


Sinister x Mortal Kombat: End of Realms [Season Two]

by Son_of_Achlys



Category: Mortal Kombat (Video Games), Mortal Kombat - All Media Types, Mortal Kombat - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Violence, Graphic Description, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2019-06-21 11:37:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 31,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15556854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Son_of_Achlys/pseuds/Son_of_Achlys





	1. Invasion

        The Emergency Broadcast System rang out alongside city sirens with a numbing fervor. The earth shook constantly from explosions, fire-bombings and falling bodies. Humidity stifled the senses as heat suffocated the mind in the dead of night. Preceding every scream was the pop of a bullet or the wet defiant sound of flesh being rend from bone. This was not Mortal Kombat. This was war.

        Combat boots slammed against the broken pavement, guiding a headstrong police officer down the alleyway of Deacon City. Following behind were the quickening thuds of equine hooves. The officer tried to compose his ragged breath and talked into his radio, pulling a 9mm pistol from its holster. "This is Officer Stryker, requesting backup in the South Boon District! Cutting through the alleyway and headed East on Tobias Avenue! Do you copy? Do you copy?!" The radio returned static and the roar of a monster.

       Stryker fires a few shots from his pistol at the hoofed beast galloping after him, stepping over corpses and shell casings. The bullets reflect off of a purple veil of energy, ricocheting only to have one strike him back in his shoulder. He stumbled but regained his composure, continuing to run away from the beast. He bled all the way to the end of the alleyway where a giant mound of dead bodies were piled to close it off. With the height of the mound almost twice his size, Stryker swallowed and turned around to face what had been chasing him.

       "I didn't expect the apocalypse to be like _this_." Stryker lifted his gun and aimed at the Centaurian that had slowed its galloping to a stop.

       The Centaurian flexed its muscles, every step toward Stryker making the difference in size between them all the greater. Within five feet, he cast a shadow, smiling with a proud snort. "Your realm is forfeit, human."

       Stryker unloaded his 9mm on the Centaurian but it was no use. Every bullet that left the chamber bounced off of his skin , each impact revealing the purple veil of energy around him. The Centaurian stepped forward, forcing Stryker's back against the wall as he snatched the empty gun from him. The Centaurian leaned in close to his face as his teeth gnashed the gun between his jaws, noisily chewing it in front of him. With a valiant roar signaling the end of his meal, Stryker took full advantage. He tossed a grenade into the Centaurian's throat with a single gesture.

       Stryker slid between the Centaurian's legs, using the blood that pooled the ground to slip and slide against the concrete. By the time he stopped a good distance away, he heard the sickening explosion. He turned around just in time to witness the meaty thud of what remained of the Centaurian's lower half smacking against the concrete. The wall of bodies that blocked the alleyway had crumbled from the explosion, leaving a gory hole to exit through. Stryker lamented, turning his DCPD baseball cap around.

        "This shit is _way_ above my paygrade. Gotta make it to the police station." Stryker wiped the blood from his face, pulling a shotgun from one of the deceased bodies in the alleyway. The grip of the corpse was overwhelming, making him stop mid-tug to pry each individual finger from the weapon. He cocked the gun, checking to make sure it had a handful of shots left before crawling out of the corpse hole at the end of the alley.

        Stryker was three blocks away from the Deacon City Police Station, using the cover of night to make his way through the war zone. He crouched behind the piles of bodies that lined the sidewalk, hearing civilians being eaten alive by Centaurians. Masked by the overwhelming smell of the dead, he was able to make it to the derelict police station. Stryker dashed through the parking lot but slowed when he came upon the entryway. He pulled the double doors open only to witness the carnage that had been wrought on the other Deacon City police officers.

        The entryway was slick with the gore of his fellow officers. Heat from the scattered fires made the stench unbearable. The smell of rotting flesh was intensified thousands of times over. Stryker's nose twisted as he tried to quiet his coughing wretches, moving carefully among the corpses strewn throughout the station. But the more he explored, the more grim his conclusion became.

     From the macabre evidence room to the chief's office,that was macerated with half-eaten organs, every single area in the police station was imbrued. No officers were left alive and almost all of the computers were ruined with blunt force. As Stryker finished making his rounds about the place, he stopped by his office toward the back of the station, seeing a bloody smiley face painted on the door. Stryker reached for the knob with caution, turning the handle and easing it open with his gun drawn. The door creaked open to the office being wrecked but not gory like the rest of the station.

        Instead, there was a giant knife jutting out of his desk with the words "The Black Dragon Live On" carved into the surface. A chill crept up his spine as he freed the knife, recognizing whose it was. This realization prompted him to re-examine the bite marks and injuries on the officers only to discover that a majority of them weren't from animals like the Centaurians; they were human. He fell to his knees, clutching the knife as emotion overwhelmed him.

        "You bastard." Stryker's lips pursed together while the fluorescent lights flickered. The situation started to take its toll on him: All of his fellow officers, as far as he knew, were dead and the world was being torn asunder. Stryker struck the knife against the hard concrete, unable to come to terms with his new reality. Again and again, steel struck the earth. Again and again, he tried to hold back his tears. Eventually, he dropped the knife, buried his face into his hands and screamed. Louder than anyone in Earthrealm.

 

===============================================

 

        Kenshi's telekinetic katana skills cleaved muscle from bone while Kabal's hook swords made quick work of the Centaurian guardsmen at a strange temple in Asia. Slaughtering the security in the courtyard, they stood back to back with one another to make sure the coast was clear. After a few minutes of silence, they eased from one another, leaving Kabal to query. "Okay, now....where the fuck are we?"

        Kenshi pulled out a crimson cloth, wiping the blood from his katana. "This is the House of Pekara, temple of my ancestors. It was here that Shang Tsung tricked me, blinded me and began my journey for revenge."

        Kabal sheathed his hook swords, looking beyond the greenery of the courtyard to the large, oriental-style temple that stood before them. "Sounds like bad news to come back to a place that screwed ya so hard."

        Kenshi sheathed his blade, walking ahead of Kabal to lead the way into the temple. "As that may be, we will need the guidance of my ancestors if we are to continue fighting this invasion properly."

        "What? Hackin' and slashin' ain't enough? After a while, it's literally beating dead horses. Doesn't seem too bad to me." Kabal chuckled, following Kenshi through the temple entrance.

        "If stopping this invasion were that simple, it would have been done by now. Don't forget that Centaurians aren't the only beasts that Emperor Reiko has at his disposal." Kenshi's voice echoed through the empty temple as they passed statues of legendary warrior kings, their shadows creeping along the dampened walls.

        "He ain't no damn emperor. Jesus, only a year and people are already accepting him as their ruler. He just needs a good ass-kicking. Black Dragon style." Kabal traced his hands along one of the statues, feeling the contours of the stone robes before letting his hand fall to his side.

        Kenshi chuckled as he reached the double doors to the sanctuary, gently pushing them open with sounds of creaking oak. "I already see it will take you much longer than that to sever the ties to your own past, Kabal."

        The sanctuary was filled with the early morning sunlight that burst through a tall, stain-glass window at the back of the room. In front of the window was a giant statue of another warrior king, wielding a double-edged sword and a staff with an eagle perched upon it. While Kabal looked on with a newfound curiosity, Kenshi was visibly worried. He pulled out his ancestral katana, Sento, holding it toward the statue with troubling words. "Strange. My ancestors....they're silent."

        Kabal shrugged. "So, now what?"

        Kenshi sat cross-legged in front of the statue, holding Sento across his lap and pressing his hands together. "Now, I will meditate and speak to my ancestors about what is to come next. Meanwhile, I would appreciate silence."

        Kabal sighed, turning to face the sanctuary entrance. "Fine. But if this doesn't get us anywhere, we're storming Reiko's place tonight. Getting sick of stepping in horse shit."

        A few minutes into Kenshi's meditation, the blind swordsman felt something jar his spirit, immediately taking hold of his inner being. From the darkness of his vision is a symbol: the Greek symbol of Theta pulsating with purple energy. Frozen in place and sweating from this overshadowing power, an ominous voice speaks to him. "Your ancestors refused to join the future. You will join them in the assimilation if you do not do as you are told."

        Kenshi spoke telekinetically to the dark being, gritting his teeth, struggling not to let it overpower him. "Demon, are you of Shang Tsung? His tricks do not frighten me and neither do you."

        "I am no trick, Kenshi. But since Shang Tsung took your sight from you, I will grant you restoration. Look upon my realm and experience true fear." The Theta symbol dissipated into the darkness, slowly being replaced by an endless, nightmarish plane. It was the Netherrealm but not the one of this universe. The land was endless, the ground made of wrought flesh from those assimilated into its mass. Broken and scattered limbs jutted out, reaching for any kind of relief. Bodies and faces were frozen in their moment of demise, tightened with veils of bloody skin. What came next were voices. Screams. A cavalcade of nonstop shrieks, cries and utter rage for their eternal entrapment.

        The number of sounds were so high that Kenshi couldn't hear his own mental anguish. All of his senses were shattered by the experience, causing him to scream in the temple and prompt Kabal to shake him. "Kenshi! What the hell is going on! Snap the fuck out of it!"

        The experience forced Kenshi onto his side, triggering convulsions and foaming at the mouth. Veins became visibly distressed along his entire body as his skin turned a deep red. Kenshi's limbs slammed and slapped violently against the temple floor as he struggled to retain even a fragment of sanity. Tears stained his twitching face. Kabal tried in vain to wake Kenshi out of his meditative state with shaking, smacking and yelling. Moments later, a spurt of blood rushed out from Kenshi's mouth.

        "Kenshi!" Kabal's shout filled the temple. He removed Kenshi's blindfold to see that the blood vessels in his eyes had burst, one of them dripping various fluids. His heart had stopped having burst after the nightmarish experience from his meditation. His bowels had vacated, having Kabal stand and step back with visible disgust. "Fuck, man..."

      The same ominous voice that spoke to Kenshi started coming from the temple itself, conveying an offer to Kabal. "Do not worry. He has joined his ancestors. But if you don't wish to travel down the same path that he did, then do not resist. Rejection of the blessing is not taken lightly."

      Kabal immediately drew his hook swords upon hearing the voice and treaded lightly around the sanctuary. Every once in a while, his gaze darted over to Kenshi's dead body. "I don't know what the FUCK is going on around here but if you're the bastard who killed Kenshi, then show yourself! I'm not one to get caught up in getting mindfucked. Face me like a man."

      Kenshi's Sento blade levitated from the ground, surrounded by a purple aura. Once it reached Kabal's height, it rushed toward him in an attempt to impale his chest. Luckily, Kabal was fast enough to whirl about, parrying the blade with his own hook swords. "Nice try! I've trained with Kenshi long enough to know that damned trick."

      Kabal turned about in a blur with his hook swords meeting a bladed arm. It was attached to the darkness that had invaded the realms years ago: Sinister Maharana. The dark savior finished rising out of Kabal's shadow, his towering body now fully formed. "You certainly are persistent, aren't you?"

      "I've had to deal with a lotta shit to get here, not to mention the shitface that's in power now. No way in hell am I going down to some edgy-looking bogeyman." Kabal pushed back against Sinister's bladed arm with all his strength, firing a pink orb of energy to gain distance. His feet pushed back along the ground, letting him get a full look at Sinister's unnatural body. "Guess we both got put through the meat grinder, eh?"

        Sinister's arm liquefied and morphed back into a normal appendage, his fingers clenching and flexing while he stared down Kabal. "Your fighting is pointless. Soon enough, all of these 'realms' will be joined under one. Everyone will join or be assimilated. It's only a matter of time, so you'd do best to not allow your ignorance to kill you."

        "I'm gonna slice you up so bad, the only thing that's gonna be left is a goddamn oil slick. Shut your inky ass up and FIGHT!" Kabal rushed Sinister with blurring speed, striking against his body with the hook swords. He ripped into Sinister’s body with the utmost brutality, sending parts of him flying through the temple. Kabal ended his bladed flurry with a vicious kick to the chest, pumping up his own ego. "Guess all you can do is sneak attacks, huh? Nah. If you wanna kill me, you're gonna have to work for it."

        Sinister's body regenerated quickly from the chunks ripped from him by Kabal, looking at him with a smile. "Nothing that you do can stop what is coming. One way or another, you will join me. Even if I have to drag your corpse back to the Netherrealm." His arm rose to aim a finger at Kabal, an immense amount of heat gathering into a small orb of energy with intent to fire.

        Sento moved at blinding speeds from the ground, emanating cyan energy. Before Sinister could retract his arm, the blade cleaved it from his shoulder. He screamed in pain, realizing that the ceremonial sword had been empowered with Aether. "W-what?! Who is doing this?!"

        Kenshi's eyes started to glow the same bright cyan with lips moving to speak. "You may have claimed our souls but our will remains defiant! You are a parasite, a darkness that will not lay claim to our legacy or our descendant! It is the power of the Elder Gods that blessed us to bring this temple into existence and it is that same power that will bring it with us into death!"

        Sinister's heterochromatic eyes widened, holding his stump of a shoulder with gritting teeth. "Filth of the Pantheon! How dare you!"

        The Sento sword impaled Sinister through the sternum and pinned his body against a pillar in the sanctuary, keeping him in place with Aether. The temple began to shake violently as the ancestors spoke to Kabal. "Leave this place, Kabal, or you too shall be taken!"

        Kabal sped out of the temple with his hook swords in hand, dodging falling debris while Sinister roared in the background. The temple's structure collapsed in the cyan conflagration of Aether that rushed from the sanctuary within. Kabal had dove along the ground in the courtyard and looked back to see blue flames lapping at the stone that remained. He stood up with a deep sense of sorrow for Kenshi and even more determination to stop the invasion. "Shit..."

 

================================================

 

        "Five realms. Are you keeping count, Havik?" Reiko boasted from his skeletal throne with intermittent laughter. He took small sips of blood from a hollowed out skull and looked to the cleric of chaos that stood adjacent to the ghoulish seat. The day was hot amidst the usurped fortress, condensation clinging to the makeshift chalice.

        "Of course. Who wouldn't follow the escapades of such a ruthless konqueror like yourself? A man after Shao Kahn's own heart." Havik smiled.

Reiko smacked his hand against the armrest. "Bah! Shao Kahn couldn't dream of ruling the realms like I've set out doing. He always believed he was invincible, one step ahead of everyone. Well, now he has both feet in the grave and he has no one but himself to blame."

        "Says the whipping boy." Havik covered his mouth to laugh.

        "That's _emperor_ to you, _cleric_. Your moments of jest are amusing but don't let them cause you to forget your place." He stood from his throne, having a few of the Seidan Guardsmen turn to watch him. He stepped down and walked to the four Kamidogu daggers that laid upon a sacred slab of marble. "I already have five of the six kamidogu, including the one that resides in you, Havik. Once Earthrealm has been konquered, the final piece will be in place and I'll be ready to take over the most important of realms."

        Havik couldn't help but smile at his words, encouraging his hubris. "Oh, you mean the sacred place of the Elder Gods?"

        "Yes!" Reiko took a deep drink from the skull, swallowing the chilled blood within before tossing the empty chalice to one of the guardsmen. "As you've mentioned, this is only the beginning. Once we rule the realms, we'll move on to others. Other dimensions that hold even more. The Kamidogu are just keys to a much bigger treasure, Havik. You should be glad that you're able to come along for the ride." His usually blue eyes shifted to a glowing red, energy crackling around his face.

        "Have you satisfied your cravings today?" Havik seemed as concerned as he wanted to be, gesturing for the guardsman to pass him the empty skull. "You know what happens when ---"

        Reiko waved him off, placing his hands on his hips and walking to pick up one of the Kamidogu. "I know! I....I know. Ascending to become a Blood God is as much of a blessing as it is a curse but it's well worth it." He raised the jagged metal to his face, looking at his malevolent reflection with a grin. "You should be more worried about the Tekunin than questioning if I can handle my own godhood. Have you heard back from Sektor concerning the treaty offer?"

        Havik looked at the empty skull, toying with the hinges of its jaw. "I'm afraid not. It seems as though the Tekunin all but vanished the moment the invasion began. From what we know, we believe that they're still in Earthrealm, so it may just be a matter of time until we find them."

        Reiko scoffed, placing the Kamidogu back on the marble slab. "Damned machines. They aren't the only ones with access to the Aether. Sooner or later, they'll show themselves. They'll regret spitting in the face of my offer with this insufferable silence."

        "And what about....him?" Havik opened and closed the skull's jaw with a loud snap.

        "Ah. The wretched shadow, the one who brought about so much destruction. Motaro and Hotaru's men haven't seen him in the slightest during the invasion. For all we know, he could be dead. Just like Shao Kahn, he was a fool." Reiko stepped to Havik, staring him down. "But if, for some reason, the dead remain restless, I trust you and my men will usher them from this world. Permanently."

        Havik watched as Reiko turned from him and walked down the hallway toward his personal quarters, giving him a small bow along with the Seidan Guardsmen. "As you wish, Emperor."

 

========================================================

 

        A dark-skinned man stood in the secret temple of the Elder Gods, fingers interlocked and pressed against his bare abdomen. Braided white hair trailed down his vested back with three gold rings bound against the frosted ponytail. His muscles flexed and relaxed against his clothing: a black vest adorned with iron shoulder guards and a red sash, loose green pants that were held by spiked iron cuffs around his ankles and the green, pointed boots just beneath and two steel bracers tightly bound around his wrists. He took deep, slow breaths in the quiet chamber with eyes closed tight.

        "Fujin." The voices of the Elder Gods spoke in unison, their tones both feminine and masculine. "You understand why you have been called here, correct?"

        Fujin nodded, his braided ponytail bouncing somewhat against his back. "Yes. Earthrealm requires a guardian and....and..."

        "And you have been chosen for that position."

        Fujin pursed his lips, opening his glowing white eyes and looking down. "I'm well aware of that decision. But I don't believe this is the time for me to be appointed as Earthrealm's Guardian. I believe this is the time for you all to intervene."

        "What is happening within the realms does not justify us having to intervene. As long as there is balance among the realms, then all will continue as it must. Your appointment as Guardian of Earthrealm ensures that further."

        Fujin swallowed, exhaling sharply. His brows arched as he struggled to find a place between respect and anger. "While I fully respect the wishes of the Elder Gods, I find it most disconcerting that Emperor Reiko's actions have been allowed to persist for so long. Furthermore, massive amounts of denizens from each realm have simply vanished. Raiden spoke of --"

        The voices of the Elder Gods grew firm, raised but beneath a shout. "The treasonous words and actions of Raiden placed him in indefinite exile. It is partly because of him, because he did not do as was instructed, that the realms fell into this disconcerting circumstance you so describe. If you wish to remain in a position where you can assist in rectifying these errors, we would suggest you not follow the path of one who created them."

        Fujin straightened his posture, fingers interlocking tightly as he looked to the glowing visages of the Elder Gods that lined the chamber walls. "Of course. I would never betray the Elder Gods or those I have been appointed to protect." Moments of realization washed over his body, reflecting on the Elder Gods' words with wisdom rather than contemplating a way to discredit them. It was then that he understood Raiden's brash mistake, lowering his upper body in a momentary bow. "I will do all I must to ensure the safety of Earthrealm and the realms beyond, if need be."

        A beam of cerulean light rushed from the ceiling of the chamber and through Fujin's body, his form radiating with the primordial element of Aether. The Elder Gods grunted in unison, stopping the beam and speaking to the now glowing God of Wind. "Although we will not intervene, we do understand the doubt that fills you. We also understand the unknown darkness that walks among the realms, pulsing with an energy before time. As such, you have been given its opposite, the Aether that will purge your doubts, your fears and the evils that you have been sent to ward off. Use this power wisely, for it burns with the righteous justice of true godhood. Act not through vengeance or destruction but with purity and a justice unbiased. Only then can you, Fujin, bring peace to the realms once more."

        Fujin crossed his arms over his chest, bowing his head to the Elder Gods while his body progressively disappeared in a gentle whirlwind. "I will end the darkness. This, I swear."

 

========================================================================================

 

        The ambient hum of engines filled the brightly-lit control room. Tekunin warriors work tirelessly at computer stations that surround Sektor and his captain's nest in a large circle. A holographic screen flashes before Sektor with images of the Earthrealm invasion, Emperor Reiko's fortress and Sinister's emergence from the rubble of the House of Pekara. A Tekunin warrior approaches the outer ring of Sektor's titanium nest, bowing before speaking. "Master Sektor, we have procured the final component!"

        Sektor turned his head to see two Tekunin warriors carrying the rotted remnants of Smoke. They held him delicately in a case of glass lined with steel. "Place him in the Elysium fluid for purging. Speaking of, what is the status on General Blade and Major Briggs?"

        "Approximately ninety-five percent complete with purging. Once complete, we will begin the Slow Burn Program."

        Sektor reclined in his seat with wisps of smoke rushing from his mask. "Excellent. And the princess?"

        The warrior turned to the side, not wanting to speak. Sektor snapped his fingers and slammed his fist against the armrest of his chair, forcing the warrior to talk. "The purging process....Master Sektor, for some reason it hasn't progressed beyond five percent. In fact, we’re struggling just to keep the process online. Everything in the system is adamant about shutting down for her. Almost as if--"

        "As if someone has already claimed her. I see..." Sektor's eyes flashed a neon red, one hand crumpling the end of his armrest with twitching digits.

        "Master?"

        More steam rushed from Sektor's mask as he regained his composure. "Run a full diagnostic on her cellular structure. If any anomalies appear in the report, infuse her stasis tank with one of the Aether shards."

        "But the purity would kill her!"

        Sektor shook his head, keeping his eyes on the shifting holographic screens. He watched Sinister burn what remained of The House of Pekara to the ground. "No. But it will kill _something_ ." He pressed a few buttons on his chair, changing the holograph to a cybernetic blueprint with an infinity symbol in the center. "And once the Triborg Initiative is complete, it will _stay_ dead."

 

**TO BE KONTINUED**


	2. Sink

        Sweat poured from the bodies of the two Shaolin warriors, Liu Kang and Kung Lao, as they pushed themselves in the midst of training. They were both dressed in traditional Shaolin garb rather than their respective signature clothing. Kung Lao rattled Liu Kang with punches and elbows but Liu Kang was equally versed with devastating roundhouses and palm strikes. The echoing brutality of flesh and bone clashing in the center of the Wu-Shi Academy's lei tai brought the attention of Master Bo Rai Cho. He was a portly man with humbling clothes and emerged from the main temple, stroking his beard.

        "Still training? Don't wear yourselves down too much before the tournament! Come inside --- rest your bodies and fill your stomachs." He lifted the bottle of wine he clutched, pulling on it with his stubby fingers to take a few generous chugs.

        Both of them paused, turning to bow to Bo Rai Cho only to watch him pat his belly with an acknowledging belch. Liu Kang walked toward the temple but Kung Lao didn't move, his eyes averting away to the waters below the platform. Liu Kang caught  
himself on his heels and looked to Kung Lao with a quizzical expression. "Too tired to eat? Perhaps I should carry you on my back? I did do quite the number on you."

        There was an uneasy silence before Kung Lao replied. "Don't rub it in, Liu Kang."

        Liu Kang turned around fully, approaching Kung Lao to playfully slap his shoulder. "Oh, come now."

        Kung Lao slapped away his hand before walking to the edge of the platform. "I said knock it off!"

        Liu Kang's features became drooped while his eyes widened, giving Kung Lao some distance. "Brother, what is wrong? Surely you don't believe I intend to--"

        "You never intend to, Liu Kang. You simply DO." Kung Lao took a deep inhale and a slow exhale, closing his eyes with clenched teeth. "You already know that you'll be chosen as the Earthrealm representative for the tournament. You're chosen for everything, it seems."

        Liu Kang took careful steps to stand beside Kung Lao. "Why are you letting such frivolous envy overtake you? We are brothers of the Shaolin, we both have a right to enter this tournament and ensure the safety of Earthrealm."

        Kung Lao turned sharply to Liu Kang. "That right belongs to me more than anybody. My ancestor was the champion of Mortal Kombat for years before his life was taken from him by the sorcerer and his pet Shokan. I have the right to enter the tournament and restore honor, not only to my ancestor, but to the Shaolin!"

        "And you believe I do not?" Liu Kang crossed his arms and arched his brows.

        "I believe you need to stop trying to hog the honor for yourself!" Kung Lao shoved Liu Kang to the ground, looking down to him with trembling fists. "You have proven that you can best everyone in this academy, even training privately with Bo Rai Cho while I am sent to carry water in the mountains! Why do you even fight so hard with nothing at stake for you? This tournament is nothing more than for you to gain more favor, more fame and more glory! So, do not presume to call me brother when you treat me as a child!"

        A deep silence carried as the two warriors stared at one another while the afternoon sun beamed steadily on their bodies. When Liu Kang spoke, Kung Lao's body tensed. "I am sorry, Kung Lao. You truly do have the right to feel that way. But my intentions come from another place."

        "From pride?"

        "From love." Liu Kang rested on his elbows with eyes half-lidded. "I train to protect, Kung Lao. That is all I have ever wanted to do. These accolades? These victories? They mean nothing to me. That is not the Shaolin way. Our path is one of community, enlightenment and the maintenance of peace. This tournament is nothing but an extension of our duties, another chance to prevent chaos from erupting within the realms. But even more than that, I feel the same about you. The issue is that you don't."

        Kung Lao stepped back, watching Liu Kang slowly stand to his feet. "I fight for the Shaolin. For my ancestor!"

        "And that should be enough. I call you brother because we fight side by side. We have been eating, sleeping and training together for more years than I can count." Liu Kang stepped close to Kung Lao, placing his hands on his shoulders. "I train my body to defend my brothers. I sharpen my mind to know when to speak. I strengthen my spirit to control my flesh. Everything, everything I do for you. For the Shaolin. As do you."

        Kung Lao turned away, hiding his eyes from Liu Kang. "Then why does no one acknowledge that I am your equal, not your lesser? Why treat me as if I am still just a simple student?"

        Liu Kang brought one hand to gently pull Kung Lao's face back to him, wiping a tear from its eyes before it could begin its trail. "I acknowledge it, brother. We will enter the tournament together and bring peace to Earthrealm. Honor to your ancestor. Respect to you."

        Kung Lao looked at Liu Kang with determination scrawled across his warped face, quickly reaching up to swipe a tear from the other eye. "Together." He felt his breath rush from his body when Liu Kang picked him up, carrying him across his shoulder. "Ahh! Liu Kang what are you---!"

        Liu Kang laughed, ignoring Kung Lao's pleas as he made his way to the temple. "You heard Master Bo Rai Cho! We can't miss dinner again!"

==================================================================

        Liu Kang awakened from his dream, taking in the foul environment death had to offer him. He found himself in a state of consciousness in a Netherrealm not of his world, confused if he were alive or dead. He rose from his slumbered position, horrified to see the face of one of his Shaolin brothers incorporated into the land of flesh and torture. He darted to his feet and walked around similar faces, limbs outstretched to him for help as they screamed in silence. "What is this foul place? My brothers, what has happened to you?!"

        "I believe this is what my lord calls 'freedom', at least when it comes to those who go against their destiny." From behind Liu Kang emerged a being that he strained his neck just to look up at. Though he was covered in a trench coat and bowler hat, the ursine anatomy was frighteningly apparent the longer Liu Kang looked at him. The bear man stood on his hind legs with razor sharp claws at an uneasy rest. Slick black hair covered most of his body and only tapered off at the neck, giving way to gray, humanoid features. A thick mustache perpetually drooped from his upper lip, soaked in a constant supply of blood and his glowing purple eyes mirrored the pattern of an arachnid.

        "My name is Srejj Goonth. Welcome to the Netherrealm, Liu Kang."

==================================================================

        Far beneath the usurped fortress of Emperor Reiko ---- beneath the church where he was worshiped as the blood god he claimed to be, beneath the armory where weapons of war were constantly engineered, beneath the Flesh Pits that Havik now called his own --- lied a hidden room. Built behind slabs of brick and steel, the space was built for two individuals with barely any room for a third. A single torch was mounted on the wall to show both horror and joy in the conflicting perspectives of those who entered. For months, it was the only life Sheeva knew.

        Hundreds of Centaurians queued outside the hidden passageway, cheering for their turn, impatiently slamming their hooves against the earth. Before this, the very nature of their rowdy elation was broken by the Shokan's shrieks of agony peppered by cursing in her native tongue. Even feverish bludgeoning from both parties brought a clamor that angered Reiko time and time again. But not anymore. The sounds that filled the silence between the Centaurians' sophomoric behavior were now bestial and repetitive.

        Sheeva's chains rattled against the concrete walls as the next in line steeled his hindlegs against the ground, continuously grinding her insides with his monstrous equine length. The heavy clap of his hips crashing against hers and his swollen balls bruising her groin encouraged a sickening grunting chant from his kind. Despite the Centaurian's thick, sinewy hand threatening to crush her throat with its grip and the barrage of spit-laced slurs clouding her mind, she continued her routine of watching the torchlight. Those glossed, sunken eyes tried to imagine the honorable tradition of a Shokan death, of being encased in stone and lowered into a pit of lava.

        With every scalding release of primal seed into her womb, she imagined that death. For the small span in which her skin crackled and sizzled from each release, she had an imaginary respite. The peace was always broken by the graveling pull of the hidden door to not only give her a preview of her eternal torment but let her see which spots were still spots. And which ones were wounds.

        "My my my.~ The life's just been sucked right out of you, hasn't it?" The band of Centaurians stepped aside, letting the relieved henchman trot out of the small space while Havik stood in the doorway. Havik's eyes fell upon Sheeva's distended stomach. His movement was fluid when he came to press a hand against her belly, giving it gentle squeezes. His smooth, chilling voice blew whispers along her ear. "Fortunately for you, we have a constant supply. Tell me, do you recall the number this time?"

        “T...thr...eee...hunNNGGGHH!!” Sheeva managed to muster some of her guess before being interrupted by Havik slowly crushing her stomach. His palm forced an imprint with his sadistic strength, the Chaosrealm Kamidogu brimming with power in his own stomach.

        “Yes. That sounds about right.” A loud squelch and a deafening crunch followed his eerily calm confirmation. With every push, Sheeva’s body drained. With every push, the floor filled with life. “Since I’ve blessed your body to be an accelerated factory, you should have no problem adjusting to such a daily occurrence.”

        “K...kill…” Sheeva struggled to utter, her legs wobbling and face struggling not to retch.

        Havik knelt down to bathe his hands in the mixture of old and fresh expulsion, lifting the bloody remnants to Sheeva’s face with a slow, smearing motion. He marked her face with his hands in a pattern of war paint, the greasy fat of incomplete flesh mixing with the still-warm blood. “You? No. Never. I wouldn’t dare impede your desire for revenge. But you are also in no position to demand it, as much as I would love to see you flail in protest.”

        Sheeva spit on the exposed bone of his jaw and looked to the ground.

        Havik smiled, turning to make his way out while an anxious Centaurian made his way in with an arousal unmatched. “I guess we’ll both have to settle for this.”

=========================================

        The sun’s orange haze illuminated the sickening glaze of bodily fluids that covered the streets of Deacon City. Alarms had either been destroyed or sounded their last pathetic whine of energy before shutting off. Heat made a mirage of the districts, buildings and streets blending together in a visual warp.

        “Well, fuck.” Stryker talked to himself in-between his gum-smacking, adjusting the reflective sunglasses and SWAT cap. His despair exhausted him into a refreshing sleep where he started to come to terms with the turmoil of his realm. Taking the title of “officer” with a greater weight than before, he donned a more tactical uniform with equally serious weaponry. Though, for some reason, he still couldn’t stomach the smell.

        The sound of his boots scraping against the sticky concrete of Forden Drive was unusual for a number of reasons. Usually, this street was infamous for the sounds of screaming, gunfire and police sirens. During the invasion, Centaurians made sure to secure the street for its high number of gangs and, by proxy, armaments. But the sun-drenched lane was eerily quiet. No gangs. No screams. No Centaurians.

        Instead, Stryker took a long, lone patrol in the heat, surrounded by corpses. He passed by a woman in a tight, yellow halter top who was leaning against a lamp post. Her hair was a silky black bob cut with blunt bangs, almost hiding her menacing white eyes. She whistled at Stryker, shifting her stance in a pair black jeans shorts and matching boots. “Shouldn’t be out here, officer.”

        Stryker stopped, giving her a wary look. “Neither should you. The Johns aren’t nice around here.”

        Her mouth creased in a smile while she made her way over to him. “Well, in that case, why not give me a gun? Wouldn’t want to leave a woman out here unarmed and unprotected.”

        Stryker grabbed the woman’s hand when she went for the 9mm on his hip, looking into her blank eyes. “Looks like you need a rehab center, not a gun. The hell have you been putting in your body?”

        The woman leaned in closer to Stryker. “For a cop, you’re pretty dense. But I like a thick head.”

        Stryker took a slow, deep inhale and his body started to tense. The moment she slid a hand into her waistband, Stryker snapped her wrist with a violent jerk. His boot found her chest in a powerful kick, sending her stumbling back. “Don’t fucking even.”

        The woman sneered at Stryker, snapping her wrist back in place as a yellow glow washed over her body. She stood to her feet and adjusted the tight yellow shirt that hugged her breasts, brushing dust from her chest.”Of all the policemen to survive the invasion, why did you have to be the one who lived? Motaro would crush you.”

        “Neither you nor Monsanto are taking me out, lady.” Stryker unholstered and aimed his 9mm at her, laser sights beaming into her head. “Hands behind your back. NOW!”

        “My name is not lady. I am an Edenian, better than the rats that scurry about this realm. And unlike you--” She reached her hands behind her back, creating a yellow flash before bringing forward black and yellow bladed batons -- her Kobu Jutsu. “I will survive.”

        Before Stryker could belt out another command, Tanya dashed at him, eliciting a gunshot from the tense policeman. The bullet grazed her shoulder as she lifted Stryker off the ground with a knee strike bathed in yellow energy, spinning her body to slice him across the chest.

        Stryker crashed into a giant pothole half-filled with pungent Centaurian piss. He scrambled to vault Tanya over his body as she came in for another attack, rolling her over his head to smack the concrete. “Why the fuck does no one do this the easy way? Ugh.”

        Tanya flipped to her feet, her heels clacking and grinding against the gravel while she turned to Stryker. He made it to his feet but was distracted by the fact his gun was at the bottom of the dark yellow puddle he’d gotten himself out of. He pulled a combat knife from his belt, staring down the Edenian. His adrenaline forced him to ignore the gash across his chest, most of his clothing soaking up the blood. “Come on, bitch.”

        Tanya bolted to close the distance, swinging her Kobu Jutsu at Stryker. Her body entered a fluidic state of motion, putting Stryker on the ropes with slices and swipes he could barely predict. Every parry he could muster sent chills up his spine. She taunted him with sickening laughs as she nicked strips of his uniform from his torso. “Are we done trying to be a soldier? Are you ready to die?”

        Stryker grunted, countering one of her swipes with a headbutt that sent a crackling echo through the avenue. He followed up with another headbutt that sent her stumbling back with a broken nose, blood dripping on her yellow top. “Thought you liked a thick head?”

        Enraged, Tanya launched another series of swipes at Stryker but they were sloppy. Stryker had bought some time to fight by making her dizzy, matching her blades head-on and eventually taking her to the ground with a judo toss. He wrenched her wrist, forcing her to drop one of her tonfas. Tanya reached to slice him with the other tonfa but it was swiftly knocked from her hand.

        Stryker crossed both arms over her chest, staring her down. “Stop resisting, goddammit!”

        Tanya’s legs raised between Stryker’s legs and over his back, her feet gripping either side of his head to fling him off her body. The sickening thud of gravel scraping against his head was all Stryker could hear, barely able to stand. “I don’t comply with trash.”

        Stryker stumbled about like a drunk, his finger struggling to point at Tanya. “Not making….this easy for yourself...lady…”

        “I told you my name is not lady! I am Tanya, you pig!” Yellow energy roiled between her fingers like a latent flame, her body speeding toward Stryker. Her hands clapped against Stryker’s ears, lifting him in the air by his head with a grimaced expression. His helmet shattered, leaving his slightly bruised face exposed. “It is well past your time to die.”

        The energy sizzled against Stryker’s skin, already threatening first-degree burns. His skull started to crack as blood trickled from his nostrils, eyes starting to roll back. Stryker’s breathing was short and shallow. The thought of him dying was clouding him and images from the police station flashed in his head. He was brought to the final stage before slipping away in the grueling grip of the Edenian: acceptance.

        “I...can’t!” Stryker’s spasming hand struggled to regain some sort of control. He fought with his fluctuating nervous system to grip a canister that was latched on his hip.

        Tanya laughed, leaning in with a seductive glare. “Too scared to die alone, are you? Primitive bombs and bullets.”

        A loud, squelching hiss came from the canister Stryker held up with a shaky limb, having orange foam splatter against Tanya’s face. His eyes were closed tightly as he spoke between sputtering coughs. “I can...nghh...burn people too!”

        Tanya screamed from the incredulous pain of the bear mace slathered on her face, making it worse by rubbing her eyes and scorching her skin. She flailed about in anger and staggered in the lane, dropping a groaning Stryker on the ground. “AAAUUGHH! YOU WRETCH! HOW DARE YOU?!”

        Stryker cracked a baton across her face and forced her to the ground, starting to cuff her hands. “You’re under fucking arrest. Now stop squirming and hold still!”

        As Tanya gurgled and screamed in pain, a large, serrated blade came to press against Stryker’s throat. Rotten breath washed over the back of his neck. The moment he inhaled, he knew.

        “Caught in the jaws of the dragon, yet again, officer.”

\---------------------------------

        Bo Rai Cho meditated on the lei tai of the Wu Shi Academy, his legs crossed and eyes closed in preparation for what was to come. His clothes were tattered, revealing wounds both fresh and stitched closed. Sweat dripped from his brows while his breathing remained steady, his hands balled into tight fists that were slowly unfurling. The moment the sun rose to its peak, when the heat of the sky overtook the academy, he felt a haunting chill rattle his spine. His eyes slowly opened to see the shadowy being stepping onto the lei tai with dark smoke following him. “So, you have come.”

        Sinister’s body fully formed within the sunlight-drenched temple grounds, smiling at Bo Rai Cho. “Yes. Though, I must say, to see that Liu Kang was trained by someone like you isn’t that surprising now. Just as you fight and resist this invasion, so does he try to ward off my influence on his mind. The Shaolin willpower is truly something to be admired.”

        “Spare me your backhanded compliments, Sinister. This is no time.” Bo Rai Cho remained firm in his seated position, though his muscles tensed with every step Sinister took toward him.

        Sinister stopped a good distance away, stretched a hand out to his side and created a visual in the black smoke that followed him. It showed Liu Kang in the same meditative stance as his master while his Nether Beast, Srejj Goonth, tried to indoctrinate him. The stoic expression and tense concentration that Liu Kang exuded elicited a faint smile from Bo Rai Cho. Though, Sinister was keen on taking even that away from the seasoned warrior. “Soon enough, your student will make his decision on whether or not he will join the next generation, the dark family I have planned for everyone. Either he will become my son or be assimilated like the rest of his Shaolin brethren.”

        “Liu Kang would never betray the Shaolin. He would rather die.”

        “Do understand that I extend this choice to you as well but I have not come on that merit alone. I am looking for the mystical items you all call Kamidogu, including an amulet once held by a fool sorcerer. Do you know where these items could be? I have questioned many but they speak either lies or words of defiance and neither of these things make me any more merciful. So, think before you speak.” Sinister’s black shroud grew thicker, refusing to allow sunlight to reflect off of it.

        Bo Rai Cho laughed in response to his demand wiping the sweat from his brow. “You truly are ignorant. The Kamidogu are more than simple trinkets of power. They are the realms themselves. Even if you were to gather them together, all they would do is be transported to the Elder Gods. It is one of the safeguards they made when creating the Kamidogu. You will never merge the realms and I will never tell you where they are. You will only suffer the wrath of the Elder Gods.”

        An uneasy silence followed Bo Rai Cho’s speech. Both men were defiant of one another’s wills, staring each other down and refusing to give an inch. Sinister’s eyes started to glow with a power that distorted the air, pouring his malevolence into the martial     arts master. But his supernatural intimidation was met with the indomitable willpower of the Shaolin, ultimately unfazed. After their silent battle, Sinister sighed and crossed his arms. “I suppose there is nothing left but to extend that offer I--”

        “To hell with your offer. Do what you will. I choose to remain whole.” And with that utterance, Bo Rai Cho closed his eyes, clenched his fists and re-entered his state of meditation.

        Annoyed with him, Sinister’s arm formed into a large ax and took a mighty swing at Bo Rai Cho’s head. But it was blocked by the sword of another --- a middle-aged man with ornate clothing similar to the Shaolin but with a resolve that was much fiercer. He shoved the blades away, standing tall in front of Bo Rai Cho with his blade at the ready, staring down Sinister. His sudden appearance roused Bo Rai Cho from meditation, having him stumble to his feet. “Shujinko! Why are you here?!”

        “My journey has lead me to this creature, a spirit that wishes to merge the realms for his own foul ends. But as champion of the Elder Gods, it is my duty to stop them from getting into the hands of people like him!”

        Sinister swung his ax at Shujinko at incredulous speeds, shocked to see that he was parrying them just as quickly with his sword. Shujinko’s body glowed with a faint blue energy while he leaped forward and bisected Sinister with his sword, using the force that Sinister had used against him. Sinister’s eyes widened in shock as half of his body fell to the surface of the lei tai. Sinister’s lower half eventually fell over, each part of him squirming in an attempt to rejoin.

        Shujinko stepped back with his master. “Keep away from him! I heard he does not die easily.”

        “Shujinko, I am glad you have survived the invasion but you are incredibly foolish to have returned here. I thought I told you to stay away from the temple once the invasion was announced!” Bo Rai Cho was trembling in anger.

        “I know, master, but I was lead here by my own journey for the Elder Gods. It was said that a strange being was trying to gather the Kamidogu for some terrible purpose, one they foretold would destroy the realms. Besides, there was no way I wouldn’t check up on you. If it were not for you and the Warrior’s Medallion you gave me--”

        Bo Rai Cho crossed his arms, raising a brow. “Ah yes. I recall sending you to pick it up from the fisherman but I don’t remember giving it to you.”

        Shujinko rubbed the back of his neck and smiled, looking away from Bo Rai Cho. “Um, well, you see, for the greater good of the realms, I was told---”

        “Look out, Shujinko!” Bo Rai Cho shoved Shujinko out of the way as his head was suddenly separated from his shoulders by Sinister’s ax blade. The head rolled across the lei tai and plunged into the waters below. Shujinko watched his master’s body flop belly-first on the platform with blood spurting from the open wound. Tendrils slithered from Sinister’s inky body to wrap about Bo Rai Cho’s corpse, slowly enveloping him in black flesh.

        “AWAY FROM HIM!” With tears in his eyes, Shujinko made short work of the tendrils with his blade. He pointed the edge at Sinister with veins rising along his body. “You and your kind have destroyed the Shaolin. I can understand now why Damashi said that only I can save the realms from this destruction, why I was chosen out of so many. The power he gave me will not go to waste. I will end your reign of terror here and now.”

        “And what does someone like you know of power?” Sinister’s arms reverted to their natural state with muscles bulging along his frame. He stepped to Shujinko with an immense amount of heat starting to radiate from his body. The lei tai sizzled and caught fire in mere seconds. “The power you know is of this limited space, this finite universe. Such power wasn’t even born within you but gifted to you by someone just as limited. Whereas the power I wield is beyond what you could dare hope to emulate.”

  
        Shujinko’s body began to rise in temperature along with Sinister’s. Wisps of steam wafted from his blade and the faint aura could be seen again. “My skills are your skills, so do not hope to rely upon your powers against me, demon. This battle will be of wills alone.”

  
        Suddenly, Sinister’s black body shifted to a rich shade of orange, his feet hovering off the ground. Though Shujinko tried to emulate the same, his clothes burned to a cinder and his blade started to melt in his hands, causing him to drop it with a loud sucking through his teeth. “Then you will have to ask yourself if you are willing to burn for your beliefs, as I have. Are you willing to destroy your body? Rend your mind completely asunder? Reform yourself from sheer force of will?”

        Shujinko grit his teeth, feeling them steam and bubble from the heat he was gradually learning from Sinister. His tears evaporated and his skin started to broil from the heat they were both letting off. He rose in the air to meet Sinister, growling and grunting in extreme pain while reaching out to him. Beside Shujinko appeared a glowing orange orb, sparkling with a mystic energy, speaking in deep, layered voices. “Shujinko! Stop!”

        Sinister hovered close to Shujinko, pushing his outstretched arm away and pressing his hands against his cheeks. “Can you cheat death?”

        Shujinko screamed in agony as his body’s temperature skyrocketed in moments, his body exploding from the shift in pressure. Covered in smoldering gore, Sinister turned to the glowing orb, sensing something beyond the simplistic facade. “And who are you?”

        Instead of responding, the orb unleashed a deafening growl of frustration and vanished.

        Sinister descended and expelled his thermal energy throughout the Wu Shi Academy, rendering it a smoldering mound that boiled the lakes below. Fires raged along the verdant countryside that surrounded it while he left to continue his rampage. But on his way out of the burning academy, a woman clad in yellow and black flew down to impede his path. Beside her was another woman, clothed in Gothic wear with bat wings jutting from her back. They knelt before Sinister and encouraged him to acknowledge them with their reverence.

        “We have finally found you, Sinister. Please forgive our intrusion.” The Gothic woman, Nitara, bared her fangs to show that she was of a strong race, possibly to gain his favor.

        “Do you two wish to challenge my will as the Shaolin once did?” Sinister’s body started to steam, prompting the other woman, D’Vorah, to stand to her feet and plead with him.

        “This one does not wish to fight you but to offer an alliance. To join you in your quest to merge the realms.” D’Vorah’s insect wings fluttered while a bulbous larvae inched along her shoulder.

        “Those who become an Achlysite must show their worth. Besides your interesting biology, why should I not allow my rage and frustration to further vent upon you?” Sinister stepped closer to D’Vorah, gripping her throat and backhanding Nitara away from him. The larvae on D’Vorah’s shoulder started to squeal in pain from its suffocation in Sinister’s body heat. “Why should I not simply assimilate you and tear through the realms until no one remains?”

        D’Vorah gripped at Sinister’s wrist and choked out what she hoped should spare her life in the hands of the tyrant. “B-because! This one knows where the Kamidogu are! One of them...nggkk!...here! In Earthrealm!”

        Sinister’s extreme heat started to quell as he thought about what she had told him. He looked over to Nitara who was holding a hand over the large bruise forming over her cheek, then back to D’Vorah who had a slight impression of his fingers around her throat, eventually breathing normally again. In a calm tone, he commanded them. “Lead the way.”

TO BE KONTINUED


	3. Animals

      Stryker was awakened by the blaring sound of Demolition Man by The Police playing on a nearby radio. Blinded by the fluorescent light, he squinted his way to something resembling sight and was able to see a blurry figure standing in front of him. The upbeat bass continued while the figure became clearer, a large combat knife being used to dig out the dried blood packed under the man's fingernails. It wasn't until he saw that familiar goatee, that grimy grin and the black dragon tattoo along his arm that Stryker bolted into a fully conscious state.

      “Jarek!” Stryker tried to lunge at him but quickly came to realize his hands and feet were bound to an electric chair. The heavy furniture had been bolted to the floor of what appeared to be a bank vault. The metal walls reflected the vault’s fluorescent light, drawers emptied of every jewel and dollar. The sudden chill he felt was the first clue that lead him to the unfortunate fact that he had been fully stripped of his clothing and SWAT gear. Meanwhile, Jarek was dressed in combat boots, olive drab cargo pants and a red combat vest.

Jarek’s voice was raspy and marred, like he had been screaming his whole life. Every word had to climb from his throat. “Comfortable, officer? Gotta admit, I didn’t think a cop like you would still be running around trying to enforce the law. I gotta know. Does it hurt?”

Stryker’s teeth clenched while he watched Jarek tune in with widened eyes.”It was you. YOU killed those cops. I  _ knew _ you should’ve just been put down but -”

“But you didn’t! Did you? No. See, this is what got you where you are in the first place. I kill, you arrest, I break out and do it all over again.” Jarek stopped picking his nails with the knife, idly waving the sharpened edge at Stryker. “Now. Answer my question.”

“The hell you think this is, an interrogation?!” Stryker struggled against the leather bindings around his wrists and ankles, frustrated.

Jarek laughed at his attempt and abruptly stabbed Stryker in the shoulder. The blade sank halfway into his flesh with a wet squelch, Jarek twisting the knife. He leaned in to hear Stryker's scream and dragged his tongue along his ear, whispering. “Does it hurt?”

Stryker smashed the side of Jarek’s head with his own, prompting Jarek to twist the knife even further into his arm. “What the hell could you --- ngghh! --- possibly want?!”

Jarek released the handle of the knife and smashed his fist into Stryker’s face, spilling more blood following a loud crack. “To kill you. But my  _ associate _ wants something only you can get. Something called a Kamidogu.”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” Stryker coughed up more blood, wiping his mouth on his shoulder.

     “Don't lie!” Jarek pulled a badge from his pocket that read “Special Forces Agent”, shoving it in Stryker's face. “You and the rest of those jackbooted fucks messed with plenty of this voodoo shit. Lookit. It's even got your name on it. How's that?”

     “That's not true! It wasn't even like that! That was a long time ago!” Stryker was backhanded, leaving Jarek to stand over him ominously, casting a deep shadow in the light.

    “Oh, we're gonna see just how true it is, officer.” Jarek pulled one of the jewel slots of the safe wall, grabbing a bottle of water and slicing the top off with his combat knife. With a few strong splashes, Stryker was drenched. It wasn't until Jarek pulled out Stryker's taser that the screams began.

 

\-------------------------------------------–

 

    D'Vorah's black lips cradled one of Sinister's fleshy black orbs, caressing the smooth surface with her tongue as Nitara gently massaged the other in her palm. The dark lord sat with a look of contemplation atop a crest overlooking a desolate shore, the minority of which had escaped his burning fury. Waves crashed against a China shoreline as satisfied sounds of oral worship smacked, slopped and slurped through the air.

    “So, the robots hold the Kamidogu, do they?” Sinister's hand extended to stroke along Nitara's cheek, the pink fumes of his aphrodisiac making the air dense with every passing second.

    “They were the last ones seen with it before the invasion truly got underway. If Sektor is any kind of leader, especially like the other leaders of the Lin Kuei, then he knows how to stay hidden from sight.” Nitara watched Sinister's heaving balls swell, idly stroking the massive slab of meat that hung idly between his legs. Her nails traced over the crimson pathways of his veins that trailed along the shaft. “Word has it that Emperor Reiko is also searching for the Kamidogu, already having a majority at his disposal.”

    “I see. If the robots are going through such great pains to remain hidden, then they rest perilously on the foundations of fear, not strength. Reiko does the same, exchanging stealth for bravado and false might.” Sinister stroked his chin, looking out into the gray skies cracked by the lights of sunset. Coastal breezes fluttered up now and again, leaving a sense of comfort with all three of them.

    D'Vorah dragged her tongue from the meaty base of Sinister's shaft, following a thick red vein to the head, making him harden all the more. Her eyes flickered with his supernatural influence, flecks of pink and purple reflecting in her vision. Strings of saliva descended from her lips, lacing her breasts with the proof of her effort. “This one knows that they both have power, Lord. The element discovered and harnessed from the sorcerers of old. Reiko has used it to keep all of Outworld under his thumb. Sektor, this one fears, is planning on something greater. Where power hides, it grows.”

    “The Aether. I was foolish to believe that it wouldn't be present throughout these dimensions same as Nether, simply in different forms. In different hands. Nonetheless, I feel as though this “Sektor” and his robotic army will prove to be the most troublesome, whereas the fool who took Shao Kahn's place will be quicker to fall.” Sinister guided Nitara's face to begin her own oral worship, feeling her lips passionately take in one of his hot spheres.

    “Reiko is dangerous, yes, but his advisor is much more malevolent. Tricky, some say. He is the last sorcerer left with any merit and commands his Seidan and Centaurian armies with a whim. Those who have witnessed him massacre say he carries the light of Gods and the darkness of the Netherrealm in his hands. A cleric of chaos.” D'Vorah's wings fluttered at the slow, steady rise of Sinister's cock, gray fluid oozing from the fat mushroom head. One of her larvae crawled around her shoulder, wondering if it should burrow inside the less than opportune entrance but she quickly denied it.

    “There is another I have sensed since I entered these realms, someone higher than Reiko. The feeling is very familiar but I do not know of them. Before I relieve Reiko and his cleric of the Kamidogu, I have a strong urge to pay a visit to this higher power. After you two have been blessed, stay within the shadows. The Nether will grant you many things, capabilities I will require you to use wisely. When all is finished, this charade of an invasion will be over and peace will be founded by my hand.”

    D'Vorah and Nitara looked on to the fully erect length of their new dark lord, hearing his balls churn and blood pump vigorously into that carnal limb. Gray fluids rushed down his shaft to pool about the ground. In unison, under the damned illusion of a better life, they both replied “Yes, Lord Sinister.”

 

\-------------------------------------------–

 

    “Why isn't Jarek answering with his status update?! Dammit!” Daegon smashed his fist against the Red Dragon control panel.

    “I knew he was nothing but leftovers from the Black Dragon. If anything, he's probably abandoned the mission, carving up some poor soul in Deacon City to test out a new knife he found. He's trash, sir.” Mavado crossed his arms and leaned against the cavern wall. “You should place your trust in the  _ other _ , not Jarek.”

    “You are in no position to judge the value of anyone, Mavado. A second-in-command who pitifully stays by his master's feet, too terrified to face the chaos outside.” Daegon turned to look at him.

   “I am gathering intelligence, sir.”

    “You are gathering my wrath, a debt you don't wish to hold for much long--” Daegon's eyes widened as a figure slowly rose from Mavado's shadow to stare down the demigod. Sinister's arrival nearly caught Mavado off guard as a bladed arm came up in an attempt to decapitate him, managing to slice his cheek from the bone as he maneuvered away.

    “Of all the people I have run into, I've been most interested in meeting you, Daegon. There is a power within you that I can not sense anywhere else in the realms. It's ominous and I am curious as to what your claim is. You don't seem to challenge the emperor in your little hideout.” Sinister tried to step closer to Daegon but was immediately blocked when Mavado stepped forward, drawing his hookswords.

    “Who are you to demand anything from the Red Dragon?!” Mavado entered a fighting stance, preparing to rush Sinister.

    Daegon's godly energies fluctuated through his body before he spoke. “Step away from him, Mavado. This is not a time for fighting.”

    “You speak of me as a coward and scold me for wanting to fight?!” Mavado glared at his boss, tightening his grip on the hookswords.

    Ignoring Mavado for the time being, his attention was locked on Sinister's eerily still body. “This power --- dark, bottomless. You haven't gone unnoticed within the realms either. I know of your incursion on the Mortal Kombat tournament, your corruption made public during Shao Kahn's reign.”

    Sinister smiled. “You wear the same crest as those who have been assimilated but you are not as empty as them. I count myself as fortunate, for you are the final two. It's just a shame I had to go through the trash just to find the treasure of this wretched mountain.”

    Mavado briefly trembled at his words. “Final….two?”

    Daegon turned to check the cameras in the laboratory, training area and living spaces. Every channel on the monitor welcomed him with empty spaces, empty of all life and sound. Indeed, there was an uncomfortable hush that filled the base with only the unnatural, low hum of machinery in the background. A drop of sweat fell from his brow as he turned back to Sinister.”So...it was you. The strange force taking my men.”

    “I'll kill you!” Mavado moved to strike Sinister only to rush into the sudden, frightening maw of a bestial mouth. Sinister's arm tore open and morphed into the large head of a dragon, instantly ripping apart Mavado's upper body. Caro's chains rattled, his expression one of shock and fear at such brutality. Mavado's lower half fell to the cavern floor, twitching and bleeding out not too far from an indecisive Daegon.

    “Yes, it was I. They are better off within my realm, assimilated among the billions of others who now know the folly of rejecting the will of Achlys. Even in their ignorance, they are given mercy.” Sinister's arm morphed back to normal, his fingers flexing while he digested the gory meal.

    Daegon drew his drakeswords as they surged with a strange energy, pointing one of them at Sinister. “Serving a being of misery and poison. Hmph. I thought such relics stayed in father's library. I will cut you down here and now, demon. No one will stop what has been destined for me.”

    Sinister laughed as he began his slow walk toward Daegon, arms hanging by his sides. “Sticks, whether made of wood or steel, will do little to stop me. You should know this by now.”

    Sinister's confidence wavered when he felt one of his arms separate from his body. It was different than when one usually tried to eviscerate him. This time, it hurt. He dashed away to see Daegon flicking black liquid from one of his drakeswords, staring down Sinister. “Good to see that even you aren't outside the influence of fate. These swords were forged by my parents for a purpose much greater than you, demon. The power of the gods runs through them.”

    “Lies! I sense no Aether and no remnants of his presence.” He held the stump of his injured shoulder, regenerating at a slower rate than usual as he grit his teeth.

    Daegon stood firm, smiling. “You truly are a relic of times past. You appear to be so well-versed until you turn the page. You are a parasite, a harbinger of destruction who believes that everything can be handed to them on a silver platter based on arrogance alone. These blades can kill you, as can many other things in these realms. Now, I urge you to reconsider your foolish approach unless you want to exit this game early.”

    Sinister's stump still burned with the sword's godly energy, forcing him to take a few steps back and goading a deep laughter from Daegon. His face was embroiled with fury, his mouth twitching with indecision.

    “You don't need to say anything, demon. Seeing as you've killed the rest of my klan and you obviously can't finish the job, you should leave. As much as I would like to squash you under my heel, I have more important matters to tend to.” Daegon turned around to face the monitors, hearing Sinister vanish in a violent plume of fire.

    “Do you think he will prove to be an impediment to what is to come?” Caro shifted about as chains rattled against his bruised body.

    “No. The Red Dragon was only ever for finding my brother and ensuring I had no other competition for the prize. Their loss isn't  _ that _ detrimental. Besides, I still have my resources.” The monitors lit up, allowing Daegon to observe the wreckage of Deacon City via drone. 

 

\-------------------------------

 

    With the music off and the taser out of battery, Jarek was becoming frustrated with Stryker's overwhelming will power. The floor was soaked with water and blood, multiple wet rags imprinted with Stryker's facial impressions were scattered about and the fresh smell of gasoline was beginning to sully the air. Even still, Stryker found the will to contest his torture. “Fuck you, Jarek.”

    “If you keep acting so tight-lipped on what I wanna know, it just might come down to that, officer.” Jarek's communicator started to ring in his ear, prompting him to answer with dissatisfaction. “I'm working on it, you old bastard. What is it?!”

    “It’s been a whole day since you started interrogating him. Do you have any information at all as to where the Kamidogu are?” Daegon was on the other line, surprisingly calm.

    Jarek started walking away from Stryker, looking to the bank vault door. “I ain't got shit and I'm running out of ways to hurt him while keeping him breathing. Maybe I should just kill him and take things up with Reiko myself.”

    “You always speak foolishly but this is a new level, Jarek.” 

    “What's foolish about it? I've raked up all the cash in Deacon City and got a hot bitch to keep me occupied while I go meet the emperor to strike a deal.” Jarek started to unclasp a handgun from his side, idly sliding his finger over the hammer of the revolver. “Besides, you ain't got anything to bargain with, do ya?”

    “The Red Dragon has been annihilated, as has the Black Dragon. The realms are in chaos and any partnerships are now only based on value. You have neither treasure nor bodies to solidify any sort of relationship with the emperor and his forces. Of what value do you believe some printed paper will bring to you on the cusp of your beheading once he realizes you are wasting his time? We are in the same circumstance, Jarek. Consider your position and get the information we need.” Daegon continued to scold him but Jarek barely listened, becoming angrier with every second.

    “Red Dragon annihilated? Then you've really got no leverage. As far as I'm concerned, we're done with this truce. I work alone.” Jarek pulled the communicator from his ear and crushed it, turning around to see an empty chair, the leather belts and restraints that were frayed from torture splayed about. He frantically looked about only to get a splash of gasoline to the face, wrenched by Stryker from a rusted steel bucket. It was a painful introduction to blindness as they eventually fell to the wet bank floor, trading blows and struggling for control.

    Outside, Tanya stood guard, unaffected by the screams coming from the vault due to how desensitized she was to Jarek's torture methods. But inside, Jarek was caught between screaming and laughter, wedging his fingers into the knife wound that marred Stryker's shoulder. Fresh blood rushed down his wrist as the officer belted out a pained cry, stretching his jaw further than it should have gone. For a few seconds, he was frozen, paralyzed from the pain, an opportunity Jarek rightly seized. 

    “Good news for you, officer! The pain is coming to an end! It's time to finish this!” Jarek pulled the revolver from his waist, bringing the hammer back and aiming the barrel at Stryker's gaping mouth. “Be sure to swallow.”

    In the throes of adrenaline, Stryker pushed Jarek's gun to the side, causing him to inadvertently fire on the wrist that tried worming its way into Stryker's shoulder. The gun blast splintered bone and ruptured muscle, leaving it weaker than usual. He continued by sharply twisting his body and snapping the psychopath's hand from the rest of his arm, sending him reeling back in pain. Before Stryker could stop to realize the morbid absurdity of having his accoster's disembodied hand wedged in his shoulder, he snapped. 

    The adrenaline, the memory of his dead officers and the thoughts of vindication fueled his pain-riddled body. Stryker pinned Jarek to the ground and screamed with every brutal blow his fists rained down upon his face. Teeth parted ways, eyes sank into brain and bone soon melted into a soggy puddle. Once the bludgeoning ended, he acted quick, not wanting to waste this energy. Stryker picked up the gun and the knife, knocking on the vault door. Sliding off to the side, he waited for Tanya to pull the door wide, walking out mid-swing to press the gun to her skull.

    Tanya was shocked to see Jarek's dead body and a naked, bloody Stryker threatening to end her too. She tried to muster words but they drowned in her fear.

    “You're under arrest.” Stryker's eyes were no longer filled with justice. It was a different shade of the same color.

 

_______________________________________

 

      Reiko’s stronghold was reminiscent of Shao Kahn’s old fortress, complete with an oriental courtyard flourishing with beautiful flora and statues of himself. Wherever you went, you knew that Reiko was watching over. In the center of the courtyard, two Centaurians usually stood guard with spears in tow. But on this night, one of them was missing. Every Centaurian was to remain at their post unless they were off to use Sheeva for their primal desires or hunt down an intruder. But when the other guard hadn’t returned for an entire day, he knew something was amiss.

      The Centaurian firmly grasped his spear, questioning himself in the silence. He knew it would have been foolish to leave his post just to find his partner. After all, he said he was going to visit Sheeva that very morning. As he rested again on the thought of leaving his post, the courtyard flames were extinguished in unison. Scraping his hooves against the earth, he raised his spear and quickly looked about. After a few minutes of silence, he got a grip on his supposed paranoia, letting the cool breeze of the evening lull him into a state of security. “This war is making me crazy…”

      “Indeed.” As the Centaurian turned to his side, Sinister’s arm was already in his mouth, fingers tearing into his throat. Every flex of his bicep dislodged his teeth while his face leaned in close to the gagging guard. “All who oppose Achlys are surely out of their minds.”

      The Centaurian tried to resist but Sinister’s arm extended further into his body, branching off into additional arms and hands, creating unsightly bulges along the warrior’s body. Tears ran down his face as he felt his internal organs, one by one, being pulled along Sinister’s limb, devoured by his monstrosity of a body. Sinister locked with those rolled back eyes as he gained a new heart. A new liver. Fresh lungs. Every innard the Centaurian had vanished in minutes, leaving him to drool and hang on the preface of death. After giving him a painful end, the rest of Sinister’s symbiotic body shaped into a giant, animalistic maw, devouring the rest of him. Skin. Bones. Blood. All that remained was a haphazard stain of saliva and blood from his latest meal. 

      The sky turned a malevolent shade of black, stars blotted out with Sinister’s power flexing by the minute, letting all who took shelter inside that their ends would also come. Like an unstoppable force of nature, Sinister confidently walked from the courtyard into the main halls of the fortress to see Centaurians rush from their posts. Nether emanated from his body in destructive waves, inducing a terrifying necrotic effect in all those who tried to attack him. Muscle and sinew withered to dust, bones disintegrated and screams were suddenly cut short. Though the ones which did sound out echoed throughout the entire palace. The very nature of the screams, high-pitched and bloodcurdling, were unlike any the proud Centaurians had ever elicited.

      Torches were snuffed to make way for the foreboding silence that came after the death of every horde. Every level ascended, every step taken, Sinister displayed his unnatural powers and left dust and blood in his path. Where the nearly constant sound of stampeding Centaurians was once present, the calming winds of the night now resided. Upon reaching the top floor of the tower, he began his steady walk down a hallway filled with statues of Reiko beside massive embers. His Nether vanquished both. In a vicious show of force, Sinister ripped into Reiko’s throne room with his bare hands, the doors flying inward before disintegrating. But it was empty.

      Not even seconds after this realization, a high-pitched whine broke the silence. At first, he believed it was just a dying centaur he’d missed. But as the whine grew louder and more powerful, he started to experience the one thing he had tried to avoid --- pain. The whine shifted to a shriek, a scream that overloaded his supernatural senses and forced him to his knees. The emptiness of the room only made the scream worse, reverberating against his skull until he was holding his head in utter agony. Though his anger was rising, he found that he was growing weaker as the scream went on.

      That was when he noticed the moonlight that bled into the darkened throne room was quickly being overshadowed by a growing blue flame. Sinister’s back his the ground, his body in great pain while he struggled to look up and see who could have been causing this. But there was a sudden tightness around his neck, soft but firm fibers choking him as the screaming became unbearably loud. His body was lifted from the floor and, in the blue light of the Aether that now encompassed the room, his eyes fell upon the terrifying beauty of Queen Sindel. “Welcome to Outworld, Sinister Maharana.”

 

**TO BE KONTINUED**


	4. Code 10-15

      Within the hidden sanctuary of Raiden’s Sky Temple, Fujin meditated within the Jinsei Chamber. Legs crossed and hands pressed together, he levitated in the life stream, bathing his body in the energy of Earthrealm. His mind had wandered plenty since he was appointed to be the new Protector of Earthrealm, unsure as to why Raiden strayed so far and why events were unfolding as terribly as they were. His bare upper body flexed and relaxed in conjunction with his deep, soothing breaths. He knew that every second of energy he built through his intense meditation would ultimately be needed at the end of this conflict.

      The steady current that circulated around the chamber was interrupted by the appearance of a young, dark-skinned man with cornrows. Dressed in red and black armored garb, he stepped forth from the entrance with little hesitation. Fujin opened his eyes as they brimmed with immense blue energy, addressing him in a deepened voice. “What news do you have about the invasion, Kai?”

      “The Centaurian forces have dramatically decreased and Reiko has nearly all of the Kamidogu, not counting the one from Earthrealm.” He stepped closer to the levitating god of wind.

      “And what of the...disappearances?” He leaned forward, brows arched.

      “They continue. Whether dead or simply taken, the realms are starting to become barren wastelands, empty shells of their former selves. Lord Fujin, I worry that if this continues, the realms themselves will vanish as well.”

      Fujin leaned back, closing his eyes again with steady breaths. “Do not worry, Kai. I will not allow that to happen, nor will the Elder Gods. Reiko’s tyranny will be brought to an end and the realms will be restored. But not until the slate has been wiped clean. Kai, listen to me. Very soon, there will be a sign that appears to you, a trigger of great power that is unexplainable yet instantly recognizable. It will appear before all the realms. Once you witness that sign, return back to the Jinsei immediately. That will be when we start our path of justice. Until then, I must continue to prepare myself for the final battle.”

      Kai bowed before leaving, his eyes filled with a new sense of hope after witnessing the power of the Jinsei. “You can count on me, Lord Fujin!”

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
  


      Sindel's prehensile hair tightened around Sinister's throat, keeping him from voicing his opinion of being surrounded. Her stark white eyes stared him down with black lipstick staining that mischievous smile, her face glowing with pride. “Do our accommodations meet your approval? Or are you disappointed to find a queen where you sought the king?”

      The Aether-infused Seidan Guardsman, led by Hotaru's blindingly bright armor, divided their ranks to allow Reiko to approach the choked Sinister. “Wonderful, my dear Sindel. So, this is the 'terrifying force’ that has been behind the vanishing incidents and the death of Shao Kahn? Honestly, I was expecting a bit more than some meager shadow demon.”

      Sinister's eyes illuminated with rage, his muscles starting to flex. But Reiko stepped forth to hover his open palm in his face, the symbol for Aether burning in his flesh to weaken him further. His laughter echoed through the throne room and his smile widened to a disturbing length. “Yes, yes I know! Oh how the darkness bows to the light. You hide in the shadows proclaiming your power but you are  _ nothing  _ in the presence of my own. Release him, Sindel.”

     Sindel's hair loosened, letting him fall to the marble floor with a sickening thud. Looking up through blurry vision, he saw Having approaching from behind Reiko with arms rested comfortably behind his back. “He is here. He is finally here…” There was a sense of reverence in his voice, an initial wave of awe and concern that the others didn't seem to share. 

     “Indeed, he is. But he eradicated nearly all of my Centaurian and has been nothing but a thorn in my side. Now that I've seen his face and withered his pathetic power with but a simple flash of light, I don't want him in my sight any longer. Hotaru, execute him.” Reiko walked to seat himself upon his throne, crossing his legs while Hotaru's hand burned with cyan flames, Aether intensifying in his body.

     “Emperor, you act in error.” Havik stood between Hotaru and Sinister.

     “What is the meaning of this, cleric? Do you not want him dead as well?” Reiko sneered.

     “You should know that mindlessly incinerating him does nothing but send him away momentarily. He is a piece of something greater, bound together by the antithesis of what weakens him -- The Nether.” Havik looked down to Sinister while addressing the Emperor. “ If you want to truly create your free world, then we will have to harvest the origin of this power that resides in him. I will take him to the Flesh Pits and ensure he is no longer a nuisance to our vision.”

      Reiko squinted, already distrustful of the cleric. But Havik, sensing his unease, followed up. “Unless you want him returning here with a fury galvanized by your royal welcome? You should know more than anyone that I would welcome such chaos but it wouldn't serve the purpose we want.”

     Sindel joined in Havik's reasoning while one of the Seidan guardsmen picked Sinister up with another crushing throat grip. “I agree with the cleric, emperor. We should understand his power before we extinguish it. Once we know how to keep out this roach, we won't have to worry about an infestation. His decimation of the Centaurian could serve as an omen for future annoyances should he return.”

     Reiko's lower lip sucked inside his mouth while fingers tapped against his throne chair, host eyes but in red while looking to Sinister's weakened face. A final smack of his chair prefaced his decision. “Fine. To the Flesh Pits with him. Report back to me with every bit of information you find.  _ Then _ kill him.”

     The Guardsman carried Sinister's body away with Havik leading them to the deepest pits of the empire. Reiko looked on as Sindel joined him beside his throne, trying to allay his concerns.”Do not worry, my emperor. Once he is gone, only the Earth realm Kamidogu stands between you and Elder God status.”

     “Why do I believe one already stands among us?”

\-------------------------------------------

 

      Tanya's head crashed against the passenger's side window as she was thrown in the back seat of a police cruiser, blood and glass falling to the floor. “Asshole!”

     Stryker slid into the driver's seat and slammed the door with a sullen expression. He was still getting used to wearing Jarek's clothing. “Oh, sorry. Still a little sore about you kidnapping me and burning my shit.” The clothes reeked of blood and traces of things more foul.

     “Be grateful you don't have to tread around like a naked pig!” Tanya straightened herself up in the seat, struggling against her handcuffs.

     Stryker tried the engine, hoping it would finally be the one to turn over. “I'd hate to have that walk in your shoes.”

     Tanya's patience was wearing thin and she was trying everything she could to muster her Edenian strength against her handcuffs. At least until Stryker moved his free hand to rest against the the barrel of a .50 caliber rifle aimed at her, sliding down to tease the trigger. Her small tantrum was silenced and the car's engine finally started. “You humans and your weapons…”

     “Yeah, yeah. I know. You guys have magic and monsters and all that. I don't know much about it all. Hell, I'm not sure if this is a Bushmaster or a Barrett. But I do know that if you try to escape custody again, you won't be in one piece anymore. So be still.” Stryker put the cruiser in drive and maneuvered past the corpse piles until he could find a decent strip of road that wasn't blocked with bodies.

     Stryker was weighing on what to do as he crept along the streets, keeping an eye out for Centaurian. On one hand, they were still roaming about for the Earthrealm Kamidogu. On the other, he had learned that the portal used to bring them there was still open near the Deacon City Bridge. Unfortunately, it was a good fifteen miles away. “How many of those horse monsters are galloping around, exactly?”

     “Hmph. How should I know? But you won't make it far. You would have been better dying at Jarek's hands, as disappointing as they were.” Tanya stared at the rear view mirror, face scrunched from the small shards of glass embedded in the side of her head.

     “Shouldn’t have expected much from someone that hangs around that piece of shit.” Stryker turned into a long, narrow alleyway, rolling past dumpsters and body parts. 

      “As I said before, I am an Edenian. I am above him and even further above you, so don't ever believe he and I were anything but momentary partners.”

      “And yet here you are, cuffed and bleeding in the back of a cop car with a rifle pointed at your face --- hey, maybe if you go back to shutting the fuck up, I can focus on not getting found out by these horse guys. Sound good?”

      “In theory.” The deep voice came from behind the car, a Centaurian appearing from stealth technology that rendered it invisible. He gripped either side of the car's rear end and slowly lifted it off the ground.

     Stryker slammed his foot on the pedal in an attempt to speed off, one of the Centaurian's hands catching against the spinning rubber with gory results. The car landed back in the ground as he turned around in his seat. “Get down! Now!”

     Tanya dove down against the back seat. Stryker pulled the rifle's trigger, blowing a hole through the back window and tearing off most of the Centaurian's shoulder. Taking advantage of the distraction, Stryker floored the vehicle and speed perilously down the alleyway. The beast roared in pain, not expecting such a weapon and alerting others in the area to his distress.

     By the time they were halfway down the urban strip, there were more Centaurians gathered to make sure they didn't make it out. He thought back to his first encounter, frustrated at his luck. He was cornered and now every Centaurian in Deacon City was closing in on him. In his mind, fifteen miles might as well have been a hundred. 

     “Just stop! You can't defeat all of them, even with your little cannon. Accept your death and release me!” Tanya sat up.

     In the center of the alleyway, he put on the brakes, sticking him between an angry horde of Centaurians and one that was starting to trail not too far behind. Stryker lowered his forehead against the wheel, contemplating about the past few days. But his thoughtfulness soon evolved into something more. He put the car in park, turning off the engine. His breathing became more erratic, ragged like he was trying to rip something from his gut with every breath. When Stryker grabbed Jarek's knife and opened his door, Tanya caught a glimpse of what had overtaken him. A rage most terrifying.

     He climbed atop the car with his pistol still holstered, staring down the injured approaching Centaurian from the roof. Those hooves stopped in their tracks while Tanya felt the car shake and bodies slam against the trunk. Animalistic roars were coming from Stryker rather than the Centaurian and, seconds later, the decapitated head of the beast rolled down the side of the car. A wet, heavy slop could be heard when the rest of the body hit the pavement, Stryker walking down to hop off the hood, his shirt ripped to pieces and claw marks along his skin. 

    The Centaurian mob galloped down the alleyway to face Stryker, confident that one ordinary human would never get lucky twice. But the war cry that came out of the officer's mouth made the mob stop as he pointed the blade at the first to approach. The beasts saw the USMC tattoos on his body as tribal markings, his behavior similar to their unruly, bestial actions. The mob and Stryker stared each other down for what felt like hours whittled into minutes, frozen by emotion. The Centaurian in front stepped forward to speak to him. “One of the first of these disgusting humans to face death with the pride of a warrior. I admire that.”

    The acknowledgement followed with a gesture that signaled the bestial horde to rush him, Stryker rushing into the crowd, mentally falling back into the Gulf War. But there were no brothers to carry him, no arms to keep him covered, no eyes to watch his surroundings. If he would die, he would die as the soldier he believed he still was. Tanya had broken out of her handcuffs and cautiously moved the rifle to look from the front seat. The spilled blood from Kombat was so much that it covered a majority of the windshield, prompting her to kick open the car door and shout. “Stop!”

    Stryker had Jarek's knife wedged deep in the throat of a dead Centaurian while his arm and leg were in the process of being torn off, his arm already dislocated from the joint. Tanya stood strong, taking a long, hard look at Stryker before addressing the Centaurians. “This human has proven his bravery in the face of monsters both mortal and otherworldly. Jarek got nothing from him and you'll get even less if you kill him now. I will take him to Emperor Reiko. Perhaps his superior magic can unearth what brute force can not.”

    On the surface, it sounded ridiculous. However, seeing as the brutish Centaurians could only perceive that far, they agreed with the sly Edenian and made a path for them to leave in. Their obedience was divided between their respect for Stryker facing them like a warrior, Tanya's cunning and their reluctance to disappoint Emperor Reiko by killing an important prisoner. Stryker popped his arm back into place, shuffling back to the car with doubt in his voice. “How in the hell am I supposed to trust you?”

    Tanya tore a shirt from one of the riddled corpses to wipe most of the blood from the windshield, tossing it aside before getting into the passenger's seat. “I never said you could.”

    Stryker slung himself into the driver's seat, slamming his door and looking at the Centaurians who stood on either side of the alleyway like a procession. It took him five tries and a myriad of swearing the start the engine but the sound of it turning over eased his soul. “Then why did you save me?”

    Tanya smiled, waving her hand for him to drive as if he were her escort. “I didn't. I saved myself.”

    There was an uneasy silence until the car reached the end of the alleyway, pulling back out into the street and driving toward the visible portal that swirled with multicolored energy. The fading sun gave their injuries a macabre shimmer while the street lights flickered in unison. Stryker broke the silence. “ Just because I'm not torn limb from limb doesn't mean you have permission to be a smartass.”

    “I didn't know I had to have such a thing when being myself, let alone request it from someone like you.” Tanya reclined in her seat, eyes closing while the evening breeze fluttered her hair. “I do what I must to survive. Nothing more, nothing less. There is more to this war, this invasion, than you know, officer.”

 

\-------------------------------------------

 

    The eerie blue aura of Aether emanating from the two Seidan Guardsman made the Flesh Pits a bit more tolerable. Thick, glass capsules that were normally filled with Shang Tsung's abominations were now packed to the brim with organs and blood, piles of skin packed away into containers like a macabre butchery. Havik preferred to respect the title of this horrid dungeon, though Sinister's angered expression was channeled by something else. “How can someone like you know of the Vantablack Genesis?!”

    Havik emerged from the darkness with fingers pressed together at the ends. “You should know that chaos is an ever-present entity, a force that permeates all things, sooner or later. Just like your Nether.”

    “Answer me!” Sinister tried to stand but the Aether kept him kneeling.

    “I am. You just don't like the answer. You want it to be some strange coincidence that I know of your devious mother, of your Greek ancestors and your plan to merge the realms into your very own. But it isn't the fact is that I have been waiting for your arrival for a very long time, Maharana.” Havik started to pace, eventually standing beside one of the gory tanks that bubbled with blood. “Mortal Kombat, the realms, this accidental chain of hierarchies --- they are illusions, placating events and titles to keep everyone in an excruciating state of order. The chaos has been suffocated by order put in place by the Elder Gods. You see, Maharana, we are not supposed to exist. We are unintended parts of a whole.”

    Sinister's face was filled with sincere intrigue for the first time in the realm, his sense of control in limbo. “What do you mean?”

    Havik turned from the tanks to Sinister and, with a flick of his hand, introduced the overwhelming sensation of drowning to the Seidan guardsmen through their own blood. They clawed at their throats as the crimson fluid bubbled through their teeth, their bodies crashing against the ground. The Aether soon faded from them, death embracing them in full. “You are what I mean. The One Being has failed all other attempts to bring itself together because the Elder Gods know how to rectify and control that which it can create. But by bringing someone, something, from outside the realms in order to break the very nature of order, Armageddon will be ensured. You will lead the way to true chaos, to the destruction of the Elder Gods. Total, utter madness. Forever.”

    Sinister soon regained his composure and stood to his feet but his curiosity refused to wane and he cautiously stepped closer to the cleric. “You speak of the Samsara, the devouring of this realm into my own and the absorption of those within it? Then why have you gone through this trickery and deceit of opposing me just to release me from this bondage? To give words of prophecy that dictate the inevitable?”

    “I only released the shackles that bind you to order, to a process which you would have been forced to do. Any true being of chaos would have known to draw their blade against me the moment they were freed.” Havik’s hand glowed with Aether, moving to impale through Sinister’s chest and grip his dark heart.

    Sidestepping the violent jab, Sinister shoved Havik away, regaining his necrotic aura of Nether with an infuriated demeanor. “What is the meaning of this?! Are you mad?! Can you not decide who you are or who you serve?”

    Havik laughed, letting Aether and Nether rest in opposing hands. “There is no definite, no absolute. Chaos is ultimate fluidity. There is no path, no fate and no destiny. It is a constant state of flux and change! Just like water, it can not be contained!” His laughter turned maniacal, throwing his head back and holding his head.

    Sinister smirked, shaking his head. “You fool. All of this knowledge and forethought and you are still ignorant. The very fact that you have no fate  _ is _ your fate. No one can escape it, Havik. No matter how many times you fracture your mind, you will be defined and your fate will remain sealed. Believe me, I know.”

    For the first time, Havik was panicked, his joy shifting immediately to anger at Sinister’s words. The Aether in his body flared up and the Nether in his other hand dispersed in favor of the holy element. “You don’t define me! Nothing does! I am what I choose to be!”

    “You are what you are. If what you said was true about this One Being, then you aren’t even real. You are a figment of someone else’s imagination. Your creation, your existence, was defined the moment you understood conscious thought and started your chaotic programming. You dream of a fault in your structure but you can’t stand acknowledging that, no matter what, there never will be. Am I right?” 

    “Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you are a being of order, here to drive away the chaos that must be!” Havik hurled a wave of Aether at Sinister before running to pull a large chain that descended from the ceiling, sounding a loud bell. “You speak of deterministic foolishness, heretical endgames!”

    Sinister could hear Seidan guards starting to rally far above the dungeon, easily sidestepping the wave of Aether. “Ah, I see now. You believed that my presence here validated your chaos, that you could do whatever you liked, be whomever you liked and have whatever destiny you wanted in some random schema. But you are just a madman, spouting philosophical ramblings from a damaged mind, like the philosophers of yore. Just like my Nether Beasts, you have fallen under the illusion that the primordial powers could help you escape the end you so forcefully fought to deny. But all it did was give you a rose tint.”

    Sinister’s mockery sent Havik over the edge, clawing his own face to a bloody pulp before rushing him, blazing with Aether.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

    “Purging successful. Tekunin overwrite complete.” A Tekunin ninja was standing in front of Jackson “Jax” Briggs, who was suspended in clear fluid within a glass capsule.Besides geometric lines of energy that segmented his dark flesh and glowing cybernetic eyes, not much could be seen of him beyond the shadow of the tank. “Grandmaster Sektor, what will be his first task?”

    Sektor continued to observe the outside world from the captain’s nest aboard his ship. The sight of Stryker and Tanya driving toward the Outworld portal drew his attention. “Unit J-4892 will undergo a benchmark test to see if the modifications made will allow for him to join our ranks or if he will be more suitable as a test subject for the other two. Send him to the Outworld portal just outside the wastes. Perhaps the human and the Edenian accomplice can be salvaged after their deaths.”

    One of the screens caught Sektor’s attention almost immediately when he changed transmissions. A drone that was continuously observing the dead woods had been completely destroyed, melted by a wave of heat. The ship’s lights started to flicker, soon going dark and leaving most of the Tekunin to use their night vision. As the others started testing systems and running from station to station, Sektor remained completely still, activating his stealth camouflage.    


    But before Sektor could move, the blade of Hanzo Hasashi was at his throat, the Shirai Ryu warrior illuminating the ship with the flames radiating off his body. Deactivating his stealth, he stared into the eyes of the specter as he spoke. “I have found you, murderer of my clan and architect of my suffering. I will have your head!”

  
  


TO BE KONTINUED


	5. Kontrol

 

    Surgical beds were incinerated by Aetheric flame. Gore tanks had been shattered with flesh rapidly decaying from Nether. There was only thirty seconds between the Seidan Guardsmen and an intervention but it would soon be clear that even that level of expediency was too little, too late. Limbs danced to guide the elements from either side, ripping the dungeon asunder and sending quakes throughout the palace. This is what they called fun.

    “Is there no more enjoyable chaos than this?! The manic flicker of life and death, the sudden absence of your “fate”?! If you are truly of chaos, then feed me your ecstasy!” Havik hurled glowing skulls wreathed in blue flame at Sinister, dashing behind them with a Morningstar mace.

    “Just as children entertain themselves with toys and warriors indulge in the high of training, so have you given me pleasure in my mission.” Sinister caught the Morningstar with one hand. The room and skulls vanished in a black void, leaving them to stare each other down. Death had long since been passed and there was a proximity to something far more terrifying. “But don't believe that you are in any position to stop me. This is not a fight. Merely recreation.”

    Hotaru heard a loud slam of body against brick as he descended the stairwell into the Flesh Pits, followed by his Guardsmen. Upon entry, he saw Havik laughing maniacally and cradling his organs that were sliding out from his missing lower half. 

 

\----------------------------------------

 

    “Such power.” Liu Kang watched Sinister's exploits through glowing pool of blood. Seated with legs crossed, he looked up to the ursine chimera, Srejj Goonth. “This is a doom I have trouble accepting. To fail my Shaolin brothers, Earthrealm and the Elder Gods. To be here within the clutches of the enemy and be so beyond my understanding makes me feel…”

    Srejj looked to Liu Kang, the formal polish of his voice disarming to many who saw him. “Powerless? It's fine. Many feel that way from their first experience with Lord Maharana and his subordinates. But do understand that just because you have departed your old life does not mean that you are doomed. You should be rejoicing, if anything.”

    Liu Kang was confused but too upset to subject him to a line of questioning. He simply shrugged with a few sighs and whimpering utterances, holding his face in his hands.As each day passed in the realms, so did his resistance erode from the change he saw Sinister enact. He could fight against someone like Shang Tsung's or Shao Kahn, but Sinister was something entirely different. The Shaolin had not prepared him to face primordial creatures and his heart did not carry a flame nearly as ravenous as Maharana. For the first time in his life, he felt as though death was the only option.

    “Listen to me, Liu Kang. I can understand what it feels like to chase after something so completely, so absolutely, that it becomes a permanent part of you. To face failure and never be able to grasp the goal you once lived and breathed for. There is a pain that will never go away. Lord Maharana knows that and seeks out those who want to turn that pain into something other than self-loathing. That is why you are here.” Srejj placed a huge bear paw on his shoulder.

    Initially startled by the juxtaposition of the dangerous paw and his polite humanity, Liu Kang started to let Srejj's words simmer in his mind, taking stock of his situation. “This is outlandish, outrageous. The Shaolin would never submit to this evil. We would rather die!”

    “But Liu Kang---” Srejj turned his attention to the glowing blood, ripples changing the scenery to the last tournament. After being grappled by the darkness summoned by Sinister, a faint snap could be heard. His body relaxed as he was dragged into the Netherrealm. “You are already dead.”

    Liu Kang's eyes widened and he scrambled away, momentarily refreshed with this revelation. “No! How can this be?! I was pulled here! I dreamed of my Shaolin brothers and awoke---”

    “To the beauty of death. Lord Maharana wants people to focus on death, not as a brutal finality, but as a passage into something greater. It is a worthwhile sacrifice to enter immortality. As far as the Shaolin and your Earthrealm are concerned, Liu Kang is dead.” Srejj gestured for him to return to his side.

    “So then, what is to become of me? Will I be merged with this foul land like the others? Or is there a different plane of suffering I am to endure for my failure?” Liu Kang radiated negativity, something that Srejj connected with immediately, reminding him of his prison stay before death.

    “You are to become one of us. If you were to be a part of the assimilated, you and I wouldn't be speaking. Lord Maharana saw and sensed something that we could not. You have great potential to become a Nether Beast, to join an elite guard that is tasked with teaching, training and bringing forth the new generation.” Srejj raised one of his huge paws to point to an area in the distance, one that was previously enveloped in shadow. A dodecahedron webbed in flesh and the size of a small planet hung in the center of the fleshy void. Seven other marvelous beasts sat separately on the skyscraper-sized web strands, eyes glowing a deep purple.

    “Can my brothers join me? Can they ever be revived?” Liu Kang's voice was shrouded with disappointment, refusing to look Srejj in his eyes.

    “I'm afraid that only the chosen can join the elite guard. They rejected Lord Maharana and must suffer for their transgressions.”

    “And what if I deny this? What if I want to join my brothers in their suffering?” Liu Kang clenched his fists.

    Srejj slowly wrapped one of his huge bear arms around Liu Kang's shoulders, patting his back with a paw. “Then you will face Lord Maharana's judgement, something worse than death.”

    Liu Kang moved away from him, sitting down to enter the meditative stance Bo Rai Cho had taught him. “Then I will await him in peace and face him myself. Death will not rend sense and will from me. I know who I am.”

    Srejj nodded, turning his attention back to the pool of reflective blood. “Yes --- a fool.”

 

\-----------------------------------------

 

   Scorpion pushed the edge of his katana against Sektor's throat. His usually masked face was fully bare, letting the cyber ninja stare into the eyes of a man that demanded vengeance. “You are a poison among the land, a plague that must be vanquished!”

   Sektor remained still in his chair, speaking calmly yet firmly while his subordinates varied in their tense fighting stances. “And what brought you to that conclusion? Has the dog gone mad without the leash of his master?”

   Scorpion's eyes flashed with hellfire, veins surfacing along his arm. “I have it on good authority that you dealt with the sorcerer so you could have me killed and create this abomination of a klan. Admit your treachery!”

   “Whose authority, revenant?!” Sektor heard his subordinates start to freeze, crack and shatter. 

   Sub-Zero stepped to the other side of Sektor and placed a hand on his legs, slowly freezing them over. He also went without his mask, instead having frost brushed across his face. His eyes revealed a piercing light that constantly refracted off of his frozen pupils. “Mine. I discovered your dealings in Quan Chi's archives. You have disgraced the Lin Kuei and slaughtered klans, even your own father, purely for selfish gains.”

   Despite their immense power and his compromising position among mostly dead henchmen, Sektor found it appropriate to laugh. “If you had come at an earlier time, perhaps you would have tasted vengeance. But you have only indulged in defeat here.”

   “Enough of this foolishness!” A violent slash from Scorpion swiftly beheaded the Tekunin Grandmaster, the head thudding against the ground. Sub-Zero's cryogenic energy froze the rest of his body before he shattered it with a devastating punch. The other Tekunin backed away from the ninjas, unsure of how to continue.

   “What should we do about the other traitors of your former klan, Kuai Liang?” Scorpion grabbed Sektor's severed head while black liquid dripped from his broken circuits.

   Sub-Zero trailed his hands across the air, freezing the moisture and creating an ice hammer. “I believe they should join them in death. They are shadows of my past I wish to erase.” 

   “But I am a shadow no longer.” Beams of Aether rushed from Sektor's decapitated head, broiling Scorpion's eyes with primordial fire. His screams of agony were something that Sub-Zero had never experienced before, seeing the specter hit the ground with limbs arrested in pain. The more he summoned his rage, the more the Aether coursed through his system, eventually setting him alight with holy flame.

   “Scorpion! Don't succumb to this trickery!” Sub-Zero tried to maintain his resolve but his approach was blocked by a beam of light that teleported another Sektor where the dead one lied. Sub-Zero tried to freeze him again but found that it pained him to move. Horrifically, he realized that his arms had been broken. His icy resolve started to melt once he came to understand that Sektor may have been right, his speed and strength far beyond what they assumed it was.

   “This is no trickery, Sub-Zero. This is the power of the Tekunin, the vision of the Cyber Initiative fully realized! Skilled as you two may be, there is a power beyond this world that you were too foolish to harness.” Sektor forced Sub-Zero to his knees and tightened those metal fingers around his neck. His body glowed with the intense power of the Aether. “I no longer have to limit myself to one body or one source of energy. That creature's plan is logical but I will be the one to enact it, not him. You are but a relic, just like Smoke.”

   Sub-Zero's body shattered in Sektor's grasp, throwing him off guard as his ice hammer smashed the cyborg across the room. The true Kuai Liang stepped forth, freezing Scorpion solid to mitigate the pain of the primordial energy. “You have utterly disgraced the name of the Lin Kuei and annihilated your humanity. As far as I'm concerned, you are no longer Sektor.”

   Sektor rose to his feet, gesturing to one of his subordinates. “Go. Activate Briggs for testing.”

   “No!” Sub-Zero hurled the ice hammer like a boomerang at the subordinate Tekunin.

   Sektor shattered the hammer with an Aether blast, staring down Sub-Zero. “And you are no longer Sub-Zero. Just like the one before you, the calling of bloodlust has claimed you.”

   “I chose ---”

   “To kill. My drones have seen it. Scorpion murdered your brother and you slaughtered your klan like cattle. All three of us have more blood on our hands than we care to imagine.” Sektor aimed his cannon-mounted arm at Sub-Zero, humming with Aether. “The only difference between us is that I was born for this path.”

   Sub-Zero's rage reached a peak. The two immediately clashed with fists after the ice ninja closed the distance, deflecting Sektor's Aether with frozen shields. Every attempt to grab the robot was met with violent bursts of Aether from his chest, launching him across the navigation room. In the midst of different computers being smashed from their conflict, the Tekunin subordinates tried to stabilize the warship. But Sektor couldn't care less and Sub-Zero could see it.

   Sub-Zero summoned another ice hammer but Sektor caught it mid-swing, taking advantage of his fleeting stamina. With a mighty swing, Sub-Zero's knees were smashed and he was flipped off his feet, head bashed against the cold steel floor. Sektor pressed his foot against one of the knees, satisfied to see blood shooting out of the broken kneecap instead of another illusion. “Are you ready to join your klan?”

   Reaching up, Sub-Zero's hand was crushed between the head of the hammer and the floor, regretting that he made this weapon particularly dense. Sektor lifted the hammer once more, bringing it down against Sub-Zero's head. 

   Scorpion's hand rose from a hellfire portal beside Sub-Zero, catching the hammer head and rising to slam it in Sektor's face. Though still burning with the flames of the Aether, his will power was steadfast, adjusting to the crippling pain his soul had to endure. Grabbing Sub-Zero, he vanished in a plume of hellfire. “This is not yet over!”

   Shaking off the blow, he surveyed the blood and ice covering the navigation room, shaking his head. “It was over the moment that creature invaded the realms. All that remains is time.”

\---------------------------

   The wheels of the police cruiser crunched through gravel on the other side of the portal. The barren lands of Outworld welcomed Stryker and Tanya, as did Jax's intimidating figure. 

   “Jesus!” Stryker slammed his foot on the brakes, coming to a stop just a few feet away from him. He craned his neck out the window. “Almost ran you over. You're Major Briggs, right? You look...different.”

   Besides the combat pants, steel arms and low-cut hair, Jax did sport a strikingly different appearance. His onyx skin gleamed like armor and glowing red circuit patterns lined his exposed torso. His eyes were cold, void of everything but brimming red energy. Arms were crossed over his broad chest as he addressed Stryker. “Officer Kurtis Stryker located. Engaging.”

   “What?” As Stryker opened the door to get out, Jax was already around the car and flinging the door off its hinges. One hand went around his throat and the other mercilessly smashed Stryker's face repeatedly. Blood gushed from his broken nose and fragments of his cheekbone jostled around in the pockets of flesh. Tanya was frozen in her seat, forced to watch the man who had fought so valiantly against the Centaurians have his skull deform into abstract Gore. Stryker's words of struggle devolved quickly into primal groans and, soon, helpless gurgles.

    “Officer Kurtis Stryker eliminated. Subject survival efforts minimal. Proceeding with second objective.” Jax ripped his fist out of Stryker's face, swollen chunks of brain matter and bruised muscle fibers clinging to his fingers. Tossing his corpse aside, the new Tekunin agent started to get in the driver's side seat to pull out Tanya. 

   “You wish!” Tanya's body glowed yellow with Edenian magic, giving her brutal kicks to his face all the more oomph. Her hand shakily slipped to pull on the door handle and kicked herself out the car. She rolled to her feet and slammed the door against Jax's face. Her eyes darted around for the nearest landmark and saw the massive spire that jutted out from Reiko's Palace was barely visible in the distance. Her smile of relief was coupled by the haunting feeling of her body suddenly leaping forward. A bang.

   There was a numbness at first, then emptiness. She moved her hands down her body and cried when she couldn't feel her chest. Her eyes fell on the stomach acid that sizzled her innards on the ground before her and fell into the disgusting pile. The last image she saw was the smoking barrel of the .50 caliber rifle jutting out of the cruiser's broken windshield. Her final breaths were rushed out by Jax's boot.

   “Secondary target Tanya eliminated. Subject survival efforts moderate. Awaiting next orders.” Jaxx scraped Tanya's face across the gravel, holding two fingers to his ear.

   Sektor's voice arose from his communicator. “Scorpion and Sub-Zero destroyed our drones in both Outworld and Earthrealm. Until we can deploy replacements, we will monitor the latter from our warship. You are to remain in Outworld and observe any progress of the emperor and his minions. Report back with any valuable information.”

   Jax looked to Reiko's Palace in the far distance. “Acknowledged.”

   There was a rustling by the cruiser, a figure sifting through Stryker’s remains that caught Jax’s attention. Focusing in, he could see that it was Sinister, examining one of the officer’s detached eyes. He wrapped the stringy nerves around his finger and dangled it from his hand like a toy. Once those heterochromatic eyes locked on the cyborg, Jax stopped and Sinister’s voice helped increased the tension. “It’s a shame that you robots got to them before I could. Wretched ‘technology’ of Hermes going around, destroying things indiscriminately. So much waste.”

   Jax started to scan Sinister’s body and gathered readings. Once the symbol of Theta flashed threateningly across his sensors, he charged the Aether in his systems, creating a blue aura.

   “Looks like everyone and their ancestor is embracing the primordial elements since my incursion into these realms. While that might seem like a good thing, you forget that the element alone is but a tool. The hands that grace it are what determine how it can be used and how much of a threat it can be.” Sinister’s eyes flashed while staring at Stryker’s torn eye, having it flash back in response and send a purple aura through his corpse. With every passing second, the corpse gathered itself, regenerating by drawing from the dust and gravel of the wastes. “To me, death is just life renewed.”

   “Engaging target.” Jax rushed from his current position, raising his fist for a dash punch against the oddly calm dark lord. But the fist passed through a thick cloud of black smoke, losing sight of Stryker and Sinister. 

   “But to you and your robot buddies, it’s just another thing to be abused in ignorance. It’s why you will never truly harness the first elements and remain as far below me as worms below the sky.” Sinister was kneeling over Tanya’s mangled body with Stryker’s regenerated form standing next to him. Humanity had been stripped from him and his eyes traded out the bestial hazel shade for an unholy purple. His veins shared the same color, much more pronounced than they had been before on his skin. With a black wisp of air rushing from Sinister into Tanya, the latter took an exaggerated breath of air. She clutched the ground while her midsection regenerated lost tissue during her efforts to stand.

   Jax refused to listen to Sinister, believing him to be stalling. Instead, he fired blasts of Aether from his chest, increasing the capacity of the element through his system. But every burst of the Aetheric energy was deflected by Sinister, almost effortlessly. The bursts soon came to a halt when Jax could see the much larger, monstrous aura of Nether that arose from Sinister’s body, the eyes of death locking onto him. “Increasing Aether reserves to 100%.”

   “Oh? You want to compare. How wonderful. I will show you just how much more powerful I am with Nether than you tin cans are with Aether.” Black energy roared out of Sinister’s body as he took steps toward Jax, Tanya and Stryker staying behind. His first step forced Jax to his knees. The second forced necrosis to devour his layers of flesh. The third stipped him down to his cybernetic frame, a steel skeleton staring up at him. “You have no idea what you tamper with. You are unworthy of the energies of the primordials!”

   “Systems--” Sinister’s hand delved into Jax’s chest, burning and sizzling from gripping the Aether core. Through the pain, he grit his teeth and embraced his anger while ripping it from his body. The translucent orb was alight with cyan energy and trembled within the tightening grip of the furious fiend. With a shout that shook the earth, he crushed the orb and embraced the burning sensation. The Aether slowly evaporated from the might of Sinister’s own primordial power, leaving nothing but a lingering desire to destroy all who used it against him. Through the pain, he was able to understand, to feel the diluted form of Aether that was being used. 

   “There you are, you sneaky rat.” Sinister looked to the portal between Outworld and Earthrealm, having pinpointed Sektor’s location through the Aether trail. He turned about briefly to address the resurrected. “Lady Tanya, Officer Stryker --- monitor Emperor Reiko and his ilk. I will attempt a second offense once I have this Earthrealm treasure.”

   They bowed to him as he departed through the portal, speaking in unison. “Yes, Lord Maharana.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

   “How the fuck did he get away?! How?!” Reiko was throwing dishes across the dining hall, breaking chairs to temper his anger. “I fucking told him to kill him there! Right there! We were so close to eliminating him and he had to go have his fun! Shit!”

   Queen Sindel stood to the side with eyes averted, hands gripping her arms while her emperor had a somewhat justified temper tantrum among the Seidan Guardsmen. “Reiko, calm down. We still have the other Kamidogu and more than enough strength to eliminate Sinister.”

   “That’s not the point!” Reiko smashed another chair over the table, echoing through the medieval-type hall. He stared down Sindel with muscles tensed. “He should be dead! I don’t care if he resurrects! We’ll kill him again and again and again! I will not have my rule challenged by that creature! Do you hear me!”

   Sindel had taken most of Reiko’s egotistical rantings in stride, believing that she could return to the type of prestige she had back in Edenia. Even the selfish nature that extended from the bedroom to the throne was swallowed without much issue. But the one thing she could not stand is being treated as a lesser. Her pride wouldn’t allow her such a fate. Her voice rose to match his, uncrossing her arms with stilletos cracking along marble. “How can I not hear you, Reiko?! You scream your accomplishments and your failures to this entire palace by the day!”

   “Listen to--”

   “No, you listen to me.” Sindel stood toe to toe with him, digging her pointed fingers against his chest. “I was assigned to be your queen, not your housemaid, so do not presume to believe that your rage will wring the pride from my body like some petulant child. I rule by your side not beneath your heel. Do you hear me?”

   The Seidan Guardsmen started to empty out of the dining hall, the doubts planted by Sinister’s escape being amplified by the royal rulers’ disarray. Reiko looked at Sindel and slowed his breathing, closing his eyes with hands raising in a small show of submission. “I hear you, my queen. But how will we recover from this incredulous show of weakness and vulnerability? Only half of the Centaurians remain. Hotaru and his guardsmen are being tempted by doubt. We still are no closer to retrieving the Earthrealm Kamidogu. What is to be done?”

   Sindel’s rigid fingers relaxed against Reiko’s body, crawling up his neck to cup either cheek with a calm gaze. “We will recover from this loss. We still have half of the Centaurians scouring Earthrealm for the Kamidogu, lead by Motaro, and your men will regain faith in time. They are not fools. They know how close you are to becoming an Elder God. Just as panic befell you in a momentary haze, they must endure until their strength returns.”

  Reiko nodded, reaching up to hold Sindel’s hands against his cheeks with a loving smile. “You’re right, my queen. We will double our efforts and treat every threat with the attention it demands. Once we have the final Kamidogu, Sinister will suffer in the most exquisite way. Now, let us get some rest.”

  “You go ahead, my emperor. I must go speak with Hotaru and temper their hearts, as I have with you.” Sindel’s lips graced Reiko’s for but a few seconds before sending him down the hall to his quarters. Reiko stumbled with a few belches along the way, his trail reeking of Outworld wine. She shook her head, making her way to the other side of the hall, through the double doors and into the courtyard. It was one of the only peaceful sights in the wretched wastes of Outworld. Flora planted by their servants flourished in a dense semicircle boundary thirty feet out. Orchids and multicolored vines curled around the concrete slab, the Mortal Kombat insignia imprinted beneath Sindel’s feet. 

  Night had fallen, giving rise to the pale moon that ignited the skies with a sense of sorrow. Beyond the crackling of bound flames that lined the palace and the pitiful cries of wild beasts in the far distance of the wasteland, Sindel’s mind focused on another that steadily caught her attention. A progressive pitter patter of rain started to roil in her ears with a sizzling intensity, mist rising from the ground like steam. But she remained dry, the droplets avoiding her body while the mist took the form of a ninja in purple garb, trimmed with gold. Black hair trailed down either shoulder and eyes of honey looked to Sindel like a lost lover. 

  “My queen looks distressed.” Rain brushed the back of his hand along her cheek.

  Sindel fell into his arms, wrapping hers around his fit physique. “Things have become tumultuous, my prince. I need you to retrieve the Earthrealm Kamidogu from Sektor.”

  Rain held Sindel, urging her gaze upward with a gentle hand. “I suppose Reiko hasn’t made any progress? Tell me --- does he still believe he will be a god?”

  Sindel rolled her eyes, shaking her head with a disgusted expression. “He is a boy whose arrogance doesn’t match his might. Don’t worry about him. He will be rid of by dusk. Havik is making the preparations as we speak.”

  “Then why do you still appear worried? I am a Son of Argus, not some rogue Outworlder like Reiko. If I say it will be done, it will be done.” 

  “The creature….when I encountered him, the power he wielded was monstrous. I believe he is hiding something. No matter what Havik suggests about his experiments, he must be killed.” Sindel’s eyes started to lid and rain finally began to soak her face.

  Droplets of the rain shimmered with Aether, twinkling among the skies like stars while the Edenian prince locked lips with his queen. “He is already dead, love.”

  With clothes falling to the drenched earth and lightning illuminating their soaked bodies, the wheels of fate were finally beginning to turn.

  
  


TO BE KONTINUED


	6. Kingdom Kome Pt.1 of 2

The sun welcomed Reiko to a morning most painful. His stomach roared with an ungodly hunger, his head throbbed from a relentless migraine and his dear queen was nowhere to be found. He gripped his chest and clenched his teeth, scrambling out of the black linen of his bed. Veins started to surface along parts of his body from the excruciating pain but he struggled to make his way to the dining hall for his daily feast, feeling every nerve of his body scream for nourishment. Queen Sindel and a fully regenerated Havik greeted him by a barren dinner table.

     “Wh-where….where are they?! Where are the sacrifices?! I HUNGER!” Reiko could barely stand on two feet, let alone force out his usual demands.

     Havik stepped forward and crouched down to watch Reiko struggle. “I know you do. You've been perpetually starving for months now due to the blood magik's hunger. But enough is enough.”

     “Havik! GET MY FOOD! GET THEM….AAAHHHGHHH….get...them in hEEEERRREE!” Reiko clawed at his body from the excruciating pain. The only obstacle in the way of weeping was his anger.

     “You've been a good pawn for a while and you got to live as an emperor for a time. We both got what we wanted out of each other. But this won't be going any further, you see…” Sindel kicked Reiko to the ground for him to squirm about while Havik continued.”Before, I believed that I knew about the ultimate chaos, that the creature would be merging the realms as some shattering event, something that would tear everything asunder and leave us without fate, without direction. But I was wrong.”

     “HAVIIIIIIK! AAAGGHHHHH!” Reiko's screams shattered glass, his face turning a beer red from his efforts. Muscles tensed and eyes finally released streams if pain.

     “After facing him, I came to realize that chaos isn't just randomly doing things in spite of order, neither is it conducting plans to enact chaos. No. I found out that true chaos simply IS, that fate IS chaos, for everyone.” Sindel pressed her stiletto against Reiko's throat while Havik ran a hand across his chest. “No matter what we do or say, no matter what powers we summon or how we believe we can change things, it will all become shit. Chaos exceeds my own nihilistic queries and applies such incredulous reason to itself! Even chaos as a state, as a definition, as a perceived effect, is meaningless! I looked in the eyes of true chaos and finally understood. But you, Reiko, can never comprehend why you will die in pain. Does it matter? Or is it a mistake? The answer is always changing, always between meaning and meaningless, refusing a concrete path while staying firm to one!”

     Reiko spit at Havik, letting his bloody saliva drip off his exposed jawbone. “C-crazy….bastard….oh God….nngghhg! My queen...Sindel, please….it hurts…”

     Sindel pressed down with her stiletto heel, bending over with an expression of feigned empathy.”I'm so sorry, my emperor. Do you want us to fetch you another thousand Outworlders? Perhaps one of the symbiotes of the wastes? And here I thought I ruled beside a man, not a child.”

     “T...traitors….all of you...HOTARU!...AAGGHHH!....HELP ME!” Reiko grabbed Sindel's leg but was too bound in overwhelming pain to do much else and his hands soon fell back to his sides.

     Hotaru soon appeared from the hallway, staring down at Reiko before turning to Havik. “Where will we put him?”

     “Chain him in the dungeon. He can wallow in his misery until I deal with him later.” Havik stood up to walk away, Sindel spitting on Reiko before following in tow. Seidan guards surrounded the suffering emperor. They took a moment to watch him utter his final, blood curdling scream before passing out from the pain.

 

\-----------------------------------------

 

      The sun beat down upon Sinister’s body, helping evaporate the thick coat of Centaurian blood he was drenched with. His travel back to Earthrealm was reminiscent of a man possessed, having a solid lead on Sektor’s trail after his type of manufactured Aether was traced back to a remote desert in Egypt. Although Sektor was able to avoid detection by the Centaurians through stealth technology and constant migration, there was no hiding the primordial element he so proudly touted. The low hum of engines, the odd warping of light over a broad area, the concentrated source of Aether --- Sinister was staring right at their airborne warship. 

     “Reveal yourself to me, Sektor. I know you have the Kamidogu. Do not make this a game of force.” Sinister’s voice was calm and deep but the power that fueled it amplified it to such a degree that it sounded like the entire desert was speaking to Sektor and his warriors. 

     The stealth camouflage of the ship deactivated, revealing a large rectangular hunk of steel. Although not elegantly designed, the sleek exterior and intricate glowing circuitry that was interlaced with its metallic casing certainly lended credence to the futuristic technology the Tekunin possessed. However, even with a few minutes of patience, there was no response or movement from the ship. As Sinister began his steps toward the aircraft, the ship’s boarding bridge descended from its belly and extended to impale the sand. Surprisingly, only one machine came out and it looked nothing like Sektor.

     It emerged covered in the blood and oil of his fellow Tekunin, letting the sun reveal its streamlined robotic body. Its black chassis gleamed with malice toward Sinister, gripping Sektor’s head in its hand. The center of its chest radiated with an Aether core, lines of cyan energy flowing along the outer shell. When it spoke, it commanded the same amount of respect as Sinister. There was an uneasy certainty, an earned bravado, that demanded the attention of all around it. “There is only Triborg.”

     Sinister’s arms crossed over his chest as he stared down the machine. “Malfunctioning, are we? How appropriate.”

     Triborg crushed Sektor’s head before tossing it aside, having it vanish in a soft mound of sand. “I am the culmination of the greatest forces in the realms, the ultimate lifeform. All information on your primordial darkness has already been analyzed and overcome. It was why I sent Jackson Briggs out to bait you out here.”

     “Bait? How dare you insul--”

     “You insult only yourself, Sinister. I know that you’ve been holding back, that you have a whole different realm filled with horrors and how fragile your psyche is just by watching you.” Triborg walked off the ship’s ramp, starting to close the distance. “First, I will annihilate you. Then, I will gain access to your realm and raze it to the ground. Once I fully implement both Aether and Nether into my systems, the Cyber Initiative will be reborn as an unstoppable force the likes no one has ever witnessed.”

     “You will try.” Clouds warped into an amalgamation of shapes that groaned with thunder, seizures of lightning tearing through the skies. Each aerial tear introduced a blackness that progressively blotted out the skies and left only an atmosphere illuminated by the two kombatants. The dim purple of Sinister’s Nether was impeded by the almost blinding light of Triborg’s Aether, much purer than that of Jax. Only in the wild respite of the lightning did they see equal ground.

     Sinister’s arm lashed out in the form of a large tentacle to grab Triborg but it soon became the other way around. The robot grabbed hold of the elongated appendage, locked its legs against the ground and ripped the dark lord’s body over. Triborg’s free hand reached to tear through Sinister’s chest as he approached, ripping into the dark viscosity of his body. The Aether was nothing like those Sinister had previously encountered in the realms. Sektor had planned far too well, giving him breadcrumbs, samples of what he knew about the element. This feeling of unwilling submission near the energy, of numbing pain, was far too familiar.

     The glow from Triborg’s eyes highlighted Sinister’s grievous expression while his metal fingers clawed through his chest. “You take a week at minimum to regenerate another vessel for your power. Don’t think I have not also taken notice of how you hide in the bodies of those you infect, your foul spies. I know everything about you, Sinister. I know how to kill you. I know you are trash. I know I am superior.”

     Unlike Sinister’s other encounters in the realms, he was in actual danger here. Triborg had taken its time to gather information, analyze both Aether and Nether to develop strategies & even uncovered Sinister’s ways of revival. For the first time in a long time, he felt as though he was enraptured in the painful grip of Aether himself. There was no false superiority, not a shred of doubt in his cold, calculating words. Triborg believed every word to his mechanical soul. Sinister actually had a fleeting thought of fear while Triborg’s hands continued to smolder his body with the element, slowly destroying him amidst the heat of the desert.

     “Then you have surpassed the fodder of this dimension, much faster than….than I thought. Thankfully, we are in a place where my limits won't matter. If you want an ultimatum, I will give you one.” Sinister's body burned up in Triborg's Aetheric grip, vanishing from sight. Though, his voice continued to permeate through the area. “You are not the first to use the heretical element against me, robot, and you won't be the last. Indeed, everything you said would come to pass if I was just as inexperienced as you.”

     “Hiding, Maharana? Do you find safety in cowardice? Is that how you wish to extend what little life you have left? Or should I just end this now and rip open a portal into your anomalous realm?” Triborg's body flushed with Aether, scanning around for any trace of the dark lord. Another of Sinister's bodies Rose from the shadows of the sand, having allowed a duplicate to die in Triborg's hands instead. The robot's scanners immediately started to go off the moment they locked onto him, prompting him to activate his jet boosters. But the fist that came barreling toward Maharana's face was caught, letting him stare Triborg down.

      “My turn.” A thunderous echo roared out as Sinister bashed Triborg's stomach with a roundhouse and sent it barreling into the air. Sinister's body moved like a phantom, never truly resigning itself to one place. A roundhouse to the back. Another shift, another strike to Triborg. While it tried to keep up with Sinister's movements, it was an act in futility. The motion systems screamed in error when, before, they were able to display every single detail about the dark lord. Triborg's underestimation was hardwired and, as it was smashed around the skies like a pinball, it knew it couldn't afford to hold anything back. 

      Triborg caught one of Sinister's powerful kicks and regained a neutral momentum with his jet boots, spinning around to hurl him to the sands below. Staying airborne, the robot's arm transformed into a Gatling cannon, raining down a barrage of Aether bullets. The sands kicked up into a miniature storm from the impact but Sinister's malleable, almost fluid-like body simply created spaces for the bullets to pass right through him, sloshing around with a widening grin on his face.

      Once the barrage ended, Triborg tried to have the last laugh, snapping his fingers at a high frequency to detonate the discharged bullets buried around Sinister. A torrent of blue flames engulfed part of the desert in a powerful explosion, rendering most to glass and ripping up the earth in a righteous fury. As the smoke settled, Triborg did a deep scan of the area to see if Maharana escaped. Suddenly, its vision started to warble into static and then a deep black. Its sensors didn't pick up the danger in time but Triborg knew that it wasn't a malfunction. Sinister was right there.

      The black fog that blocked Triborg's vision encased his battered chassis, wrapping him in Sinister's solidifying body. Even with Triborg's Aether-infused body, Sinister had an infinite well of Nether to draw from and make the battle more lopsided than it needed to be. Purple and black smoke fumed off of them both as he continued to constrict the robot's limbs, working toward crushing its skull. Alerts sounded while Triborg struggled against thousands of tons of constricting force, trying to escape.

      Then suddenly, a frustrated burst, a shout of Aether from Triborg's very core to unravel Sinister from its body. Ignoring the cracks in his armor and intermittent sparks, a metallic hilt released from its palm and was gripped in the same moment. As Triborg dashed through the skies toward Sinister in retaliation, a blade of Aether shot out from the steel hilt just in time for his first swing. But instead of victory, Triborg was forced to embrace frustration.

      Just as with the bullets, Sinister's body warped and writhed in avoidance of his blade strikes, laughing at every futile attempt. Triborg then tried to improvise, using one hand to fire bursts of Aether and the other to try and chop him down. Triborg was perplexed by the fact that Sinister was actually growing stronger the longer he was around the Aether. A minute of striking air was enough and Triborg stopped, hovering a distance away from Sinister who stood on fragments of Nether.

       “You're not a very good trash disposal, are you?” Sinister's arms crossed over his chest as he let out a hearty laugh, his body's Nether suddenly starting to eat away at the sands below. 

      Triborg hovered backwards when it witnessed some of its machinery vaporizing from Sinister's immediate presence. “This is not what was recorded. Your necrotic force only affects living organisms! You are naturally weak to Aether! I was created to surpass your speeds! There is no way you have this much power!”

      “You speak to me as if we are on the same level, as if I am some commoner that merely learned to harness the first elements. I created the Nether. I mastered it. I stripped every single thing away in order to become the very essence of death.” Triborg launched Aetheric nets, fired barrages of infused missles and even tried to crush Sinister with the same compactor that killed Raiden. But every attempt failed and Sinister's cocky speech didn't skip a beat.”If you were a prime avatar, you would have a chance. If you became one with Aether, absorbed the original source instead of the second-hand trash of some would-be emperor, then I may have needed my Nether Beasts to assist. But you are surprisingly underwhelming.”

      Triborg lowered its arms for an idle hover. “Infinite.”

      “Hm?” Sinister tilted his head.

      “Your power, your reserves. That is why I received the error on this body while the other was palpable.” One of its arms raised. A thin slab of metal slid back to reveal a keypad he started to dial, pulling up holographic data illuminated in a blue haze. “I am the remains of Smoke, Sektor and Cyrax combined into one, created as a project to stop you and kickstart the Cyber Initiative in a new era. However, this was only under the assumption that anyone faced had capabilities that could be quantified. I accounted for all possible logical expressions. That just leaves the one illogical variable that stands before me. The infinite.”

      Sinister moved closer while Triborg continued to hover away from the necrotic field he propagated. “Oh really?”

      “In addition, we assumed that the Aether could also be quantified to the purest available yield, its effectiveness amplified by superior technology.” Triborg started to enter more data into its keypad, keeping its eyes on Sinister during its backward stride.

      “You had a year to try to amplify the element and used it as a tool rather than an extension of yourself. Hmph.” Sinister closed the distance at a breakneck speed, gripping Triborg's throat as light faded from the desert, creating a purple haze for them to bathe in. Sinister continued while an intermittent beep started up from Triborg's metallic body. “A weapon doesn't make a warrior. You have to be born into that kind of excellence. No machinery can ever close that gap. Simple as that.”

      “Then….we will both be terminated.” Triborg's body burned with Aether and the element overloaded through its circuits. “Simple as that.”

       Triborg sank its fingers through Sinister's arm as the beeping sped up, revealing an imminent countdown on his holographic display. Sinister ripped away from his own arm, leaving it in Triborg's grip and let the darkness solidify around the robot. He created a shell of concentrated Nether just as he exploded, knocking him through mounds of sand and crashing into a pyramid a mile away. He shook away the blue glare of the kamikaze bomb and tried to pick himself up from the rubble to see a strange obelisk in the center of the room he was knocked into. 

       The returning sunlight highlighted the tall structure covered in glyphs, as well as an approaching man garbed in purple. He raised his hand toward Sinister and encased him in a bubble made of pure Aether, slowly drowning him. Though warbled through the water, Rain's words struck deep. “You're right. The best are born into excellence, into godhood. Like me. Game over, Maharana.”

 

\-------------------------------------

 

      Stryker and Tanya stopped in their tracks, placing hands over their chests. Looking at each other, Tanya spoke out. “You felt it too? Lord Maharana…”

      “If we're still here, that means he chose another. He won't stop and neither should we. Now c'mon. We have our orders.” Stryker gestured Tanya to follow him through the courtyard of Reiko’s fortress. With the Centaurians all but annihilated, only the torches that adorned the outer walls could witness the two infiltrating the palace. Stryker noticed the large ventilation grate adjacent to the giant statue of the emperor, sliding across the way to press his back against the connecting wall and calling Tanya over. Even with the lack of security, Stryker was taking his time prying the grate from the wall.

     “Didn’t Lord Maharana say that he killed the guards already? Why are we sneaking around when we can simply go in and take the Kamidogu?” Tanya scoffed, brushing her bare feet against the stony ground.

     Steel groaned and warped as Stryker put his newfound supernatural strength to good use, invoking the power of the Nether he received from Sinister. “If experience has taught me anything, it’s to never get comfortable in enemy territory. Just because we can’t see the threat doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Besides, we still have the Seidan Guardsmen to worry about.”

     “I would’ve expected you to be freaking out more about this, being a human and all.” Tanya came to lean against the wall, arms crossed under her bust.

     A final yank ripped the steel grate from the vent opening and Stryker slid the warped metal away from him before looking up at Tanya. “Look, lady. In the past few days, I’ve been attacked by mythical centaurs, witnessed the massacre of an entire city, been tortured by a serial killer and killed by a cyborg. Right now, being resurrected by some demon lord whatever might as well be the new normal. Now, get your ass in this vent.”

     Tanya smiled, squatting down to settle on her hands and knees for the initial crawl into the vent. “I’m sure you’ll keep an eye on it, officer.”

     Stryker followed after Tanya’s curvaceous figure through the metal maze of vent shafts, bumping and banging around until they came across a vent opening that peered down at Havik and Sindel. Though he tried to look around Tanya’s body to peer through the slits, it was nearly impossible with her kneeling body obstructing his view. That’s when Tanya heard his frustration and started to straighten out her body. “W-what the hell are you doing?”

     Tanya’s head snaked around with her usual mischievous grin, her legs sliding between Stryker’s arms. “Don’t you want to see what’s going on? Get on top. We’ll both be able to hear.” One of her feet came up to press against his groin, forcing him forward to lay against the flirty Edenian. Momentarily, their eyes met and he could see more than the imbued power of Sinister flickering in her vision. But he wasn’t sure he wanted to. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to feel around her.

     Through the vent slits, they both saw Havik and Sindel talking in Reiko’s throne room. Sindel was exceptionally happy, flipping her hair and sitting atop the throne. “Everything’s in place, cleric. Rain should have killed that demon by now and will be on his way back with the Earthrealm Kamidogu. He’s already talking about accessing the other Netherrealm once we take down the Elder Gods.”

     Havik slowly paced the floor with arms behind his back, nodding with intermittent chuckles. “Yes, yes. You are right in that things are going exactly as they should. Tell me, with the power of an Elder God, what would you plan on doing, Queen Sindel?”

     Sindel took a deep, satisfying breath as the afternoon sun washed over her from behind. “After destroying the dissidents, I would create a new Edenia. One that won’t have my weak husband as its true ruler but one worthy of establishing and maintaining a worthwhile society. From there, holding court while ushering a new generation seems like a fitting future to oversee. Don’t you?”

     Havik stopped his pacing, lifting a hand to rub his exposed jawbone. “Hm. That’s...disappointing to hear, my queen. And here I thought we shared the same vision.”

     “Excuse me?”

     The cleric turned to face Sindel, his stomach glowing with the energy of the Chaos Kamidogu. As an arm reached out, Sindel fell off the throne grasping at her throat with blood gurgling in her lungs. She tried to stop him with a sonic screech but the thickness of her blood blocked her airways. “I have no plans on keeping the realms as they are or even rebuilding them. We are living in an illusion created by the Elder Gods. Restoring the realms would just put us right back into the illusion. There would be no change, no chaos. We would be following a script, a plan set forth the moment they split the One Being into these fragments.”

     Sindel scratched at the floor, vomiting out blood only to have it replaced seconds later. Bones and flash smacked the floor during her flailing fit, glaring daggers at Havik. “Ggggllrrrklkgghgggg!!!”

     “The only solution, the only true chaotic freedom we can experience is destroying the plan, any plan really. That includes Reiko’s, yours and even Sinister’s. The shadow being wants to create a new society, realms under his control but it would still be slavery. You and the emperor served well to gather the rest of the Kamidogu for me. Once Rain returns, I’ll offer him the option to join me in freeing the realms. In total armageddon.” Havik’s hand clenched tight, drawing Sindel’s blood from her mouth in a violent geyser, draining every drop into a smooth, swirling orb that glowed with Blood Magik. “Your resurrection served me well. For a time. But you two won’t be of any use.”

     Stryker and Tanya were put off by his last bit, unsure who he was talking about until the vent shaft was ripped down to slam against the floor. Havik sliced open the metal tube with blades of the manipulated blood to gaze down at the resurrected duo. Stryker leapt from the ground to tackle Havik, his chest and stomach sliced by the Blood Magik in the process. “Tanya! Get the Kamidogu on the altar! Get them and run!”

     Hopping to her feet, she rushed over to the altar and scooped the Kamidogu daggers from the altar. She turned around to see Stryker trading blows with Havik, taking the lacerations of magic blood in stride while riding the supernatural adrenaline. “Stryker, let’s go!”

     Almost immediately, Tanya’s head was ripped from her shoulders, her body slumping to the floor to reveal Hotaru. Gleaming with Aether, he focused the element into Tanya’s remnants, burning her to a cyan ash. He kicked her dust out the way and set the Kamidogu back on the altar before staring down Stryker. His eyes briefly went to Sindel’s corpse, then to Havik. “Cleric.”

     Havik kicked Stryker off of him, shooting four blood spikes to pin his body to the opposing wall by wrists and ankles. Rising to his feet, he snapped his neck back into place and adjusted his jawbone. “Is there an issue, Hotaru?”

     Hotaru was bathed in might, every step toward Havik causing the original hatred between them to simmer with indecision and anxiety. He left no space between himself and the cleric, tensing his muscles with a snort that blew his wisps of black hair back. “No matter what happens, there is always an order to the universe. I subjugated myself to your Blood Magik in the hopes that our efforts would lead to a new type of order, an evolved way of thinking. But now I see that you are just as insane as you always were. You want to tear the fabric of reality apart, to create nothingness.”

     “Exactly. It will be the one state where order and chaos are alike. What is and what could be, the very origins of both states before their evolution. Now, take care of the lawman. I must absorb the Kamidogu and wait for Rain.” Havik moved to get past Hotaru only to be thrown back across the floor by the Orderrealm elite. 

     “You want total chaos! That is unacceptable and utterly goes against any semblance of order!” Hotaru’s Aether rose like a mighty flame from his body, flickering with righteousness as he gripped his naginata. The blade resonated with cyan energy, nearly luminescent. “No longer will I allow others to defile the order of the realms.”

     Laughing, Havik stumbled to his feet and tried to gesture toward the Seidan as he did with Sindel. Though, his expression quickly changed when he saw that nothing happened. He inquired as if speaking to a child, anger starting to well inside him. “Hotaru….what have you done?”

     “I have purified myself of your Blood Magik. The Aether is not a force to be subjugated or compartmentalized. It is symbiotic, something to neither be wielded or feared. There are a chosen few who are destined to become one with it, to ascend and bring ultimate order!” A swipe of his Naginata sent a wave of Aether to sever Stryker in two, forcing out a scream as the officer’s body was incinerated by the godly energy. “And I shall lead the way. Hand over the Chaosrealm Kamidogu, Havik.”

     Nether and Aether swirled around Havik’s body as he pulled out his bloody morningstar mace. “Come take it from me.”

  
  


\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

     Elsewhere, deep within an underground cavern in outworld, a being sat in wait. The massive reptilian entity sat upon a throne of deceased Outworlders as Nether soaked into his body, a river of acid encircling the death pile. A green aura cast down within the darkness and highlighted his outspread wings, sharpened talons and angered expression. As his eyes glowed with the primordial element, he summoned forth a projected image of Sinister. Silence prefaced his deep, commanding voice.

     “To answer your question, Maharana….yes. Yes, this power is indeed greater than Shao Kahn’s. And with it, I will not only reclaim my throne but take yours as well.” He swiped the image away, breathing fire through his nostrils to briefly reveal the resurrected army of the Dragon King standing at attention in the shadows, Nether pulsing through their skeletal bodies. “Reptile no more, I am Onaga.”

  
  
  


TO BE KONTINUED


	7. Kingdom Kome: Pt. 2 of 2

  
  


    At the edge of Raiden's Sky Temple, Kai had been in a deep meditation and attuned to the events across the realms. He witnessed the massacre of human life, the traitorous ways of numerous beings and the emergence of a great power. But in the midst of his awareness of the spirits in Earthrealm, one took hold of his conscience and rattled his bones. It showed him events that had yet to occur, events that shook the Shaolin monk to his very core. 

     Tears quickly ran down his face and along a mouth held agape. Pain and shock imbedded themselves in his body but he could not scream. He was lost in the awe, the horror, of what was being shown to him. He broke his meditate position on the ground and trembled on all fours. Vomit ripped from his gullet to soak the earth, soon drawing upon his blood to do so. Kai collapsed in the horrid puddle before slowly rising to his feet as the bile dripped from his chin.

     The mixture of liquids slowly solidified into a humanoid form and stood before him, making Kai stumble back in horror. But that fright wasn't fully realized until the vile waste formed a face and spoke to him. “How did it feel to gaze into the abyss, Kai?”

     Kai was speechless, stumbling over words to say something, anything, in response to this mass approaching him. The slimy exterior soon solidified into flesh and hair. A hand reached up to stroke a beard anchored beneath a malicious smile.

\-------------------------------------------

 

     Reiko awoke with a deep, desperate inhale as chains rattled from his scrambling limbs. Over the course of hours, his body had shriveled from a Herculean physique to a prime example of emanciation. Bulging biceps had withered to thin strips of muscle that struggled to contract. Cheeks and eyes sank to create depressing contours across his face. But even in his weakened state, he could recognize the battered corpse that was chained up before him.

     Sheeva’s Shokan limbs hung under the weight of death. Congealed Centaurian seed encapsulated blood clots, hanging from her inner thighs like violent pearls. One breast struggled to hang onto her chest while the other was completely missing, the torn wound encircled with teeth marks. Her face was nearly unrecognizable but two deep crevices remained to scar her cheeks. The efforts of her sorrow remained steadfast, eroding flesh through boundless tears. Maggots had already started nesting in her gaping mouth, gorging on her once beautifully plump lips.

     Regardless of the grotesque display, Reiko’s awakening didn’t come without its consequences. The roiling burn that ripped through his stomach, the painstaking firing of his nerves --- his hunger had returned! The lethargic beginning of consciousness was discarded for rabid, almost animalistic thrashing inside the foul chamber. Scratching at stone and pulling fruitlessly at his chains, he unleashed a blood curdling howl, screaming for his release with broken growls and slurred words. For ten minutes, he starved for what felt like centuries until the door suddenly slid open.

     The moment the outer chamber was made apparent, a brilliant blue beam of light ripped into the enclosure. The floor had almost become solidified with inches of afterbirth and sexual fluid, leaving no inch of the room unscathed from the Centaurians brutal torture of Sheeva. Reiko clawed against the hardened gristle and waxy cement of filth, screaming at the bold-faced Hotaru who entered. Veins refused to leave the surface of his skin and his blood was practically boiling from the overwhelming sense of pain and anger. Before Hotaru could utter a word, blood vessels in Reiko’s eyes began to pop.

     “Calm yourself. It has been but mere minutes.” Hotaru hurled Sindel’s corpse to splatter against the slick floor in front of Reiko.

     He was furious, checking her body to see if any part of her was still alive and even ripping chunks out of her stomach. The bloodless corpse made his eyes widen. “Why is she dead?! I can’t feast on the dead! HOTARU!”

     “You are here because of your ignorance and greed. Just like Shao Kahn, you have built a kingdom upon the sand and are in the process of witnessing your own demise. Just like him, you never understood that you were furthering the goals of one much more powerful and terrible than you.” He turned to show Havik’s severed head dripping from his waistband. Pulling it off, he held it for Reiko to see and crushed it into dust. “All of you are unwitting agents of a force that must never come to be, especially Sinister. But I have become one with the Aether and shall finally establish order and justice throughout the realms.”

     “Hotaru….what...what about me? ARE YOU GOING TO LEAVE ME HERE TO DIE?!” Reiko tore Sindel’s body apart in frustration, smashing through the filth and cracking stone. However, with every tug of his chains, he felt as if he were resisting the bondage of someone a hundred times his strength. A blue flash momentarily washed over the shackles with every effort. 

     “I will not be the one to kill you, Reiko. You will do that yourself. The thousands of innocents you ate each and every day fed into your madness and allowed for you to turn away from that insatiable void. But now with no one to eat, you must stare directly into it and suffer its wrath.” Hotaru turned his back on Reiko.

     “WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN?!” Reiko tossed Sindel’s leg at Hotaru but it was incinerated by a plume of blue flame that lashed out from his body. 

     “That it’s time to eat.” Hotaru walked out, shutting the door behind him with an iron clank, the only means of escaping locked away from the former emperor. 

     At the peak of his anguish, Reiko's pain turned inward as all sanity was stripped away. The former emperor found satiety in death.

 

\-----------------------------------------

 

      Rain trudged through the desert sands to peel open the dented and charred steel enclosure of the Tekunin warship. He basked in the Aetheric embers that still clung to fragments of the scattered aircraft, avoiding loose wires and massacred bodies of the cyber Lin-Kuei. In the midst of his wary navigation, his eyes darted around anxiously, irritated that he had not already found the Kamidogu. But behind a jammed automated door was a power he was familiar with, one that made his heart race. He yanked the steel into its predestined slot and stood face to face with the Earthrealm Kamidogu.

     The dagger had the very essence of Earthrealm inscribed into its stone blade. The blue aura that his gave off fluctuated wildly, mostly due to who was holding it. Rain’s eyes slowly traced up the body of Princess Kitana, who stood before him naked and soaked with translucent fluid that once suspended her the observation tank. Every striation accentuated her Edenian muscle, those blue eyes teeming with ferocity as she addressed the demigod. “I assume you have come for my rescue, prince?”

     Rain gave her the slightest of bows with a royal gesture of his hand. “I have come on behalf of your mother, to collect both you and the kamidogu. How fortunate both are before me and in such impeccable condition.”

     Kitana’s blue-tinted lips offered a smile as she started to walk past him. “Then let us go. If my mother has sent you, then situations must be dire.”

     But the princess was caught by the arm, a thumb rubbing along her skin as Rain looked over her face. A quick pull pressed his broad chest against her naked bosom. “Without a gesture of thanks, princess?”

     “The knowledge that your queen’s daughter is safe and the procurement of the Kamidogu is more than enough to placate your desire for praise, is it not?” Kitana directed her impatience through a steely gaze.

     “In any other situation, perhaps so. However, seeing as I have single-handedly defeated the sinister monster that has been ravaging the realms and dethroned the emperor, I would think my praise would be much more satisfying.” Rain’s free hand moved to cup beneath her breast, squeezing the slick mound.

     “That sounds like a personal dilemma.” Kitana yanked her arm out of Rain’s grasp, glaring back at his leering eyes. “Now are we going or are your eyes still feasting?”

      “Let’s talk business, then.” A blade of water formed from Rain's hand and impaled Kitana's sternum. “And here I assumed I could capitalize on Sinister's foul corruption.”

      Kitana's head sank from the pain only to snap up with Nether blazing in her eyes, a roundhouse knocking Rain to the other side of the long corridor. Black blood seeped from her wound and glowed a deep purple in its slow regeneration. “I have been perfected, unlike you, Rain.”

      Water droplets rose from the ground, freezing into sharpened points of ice. Aether glimmered along their crystalline surface to create a beautiful light show, making Kitana sneer. The cyan element surged through his body in an effortless stream of power. “I have the blood of a god running through my veins, Kitana. There is no perfection above me.”

      Liquid Nether crawled from Kitana's pores to caress her muscular thighs and bind her bountiful chest, recreating her original outfit in a black and purple color scheme. The Earthrealm Kamidogu sank into the black muck, flashing with innate energy before its vanishing act. The Mark of Theta sizzled on her forehead, pulsating with Sinister's malevolent energy. Sparing a chuckle of pity for Rain, she flicked her wrists to pull her signature fans from the evil ink. Another snap opened the weapons and splayed their deadly blades to face the demigod. “Then you will be brought beneath me.”

      Bullets of Aetheric ice rushed toward Kitana in a ruthless barrage. But to Rain's surprise, they were stopped by a translucent wall of Nether that shattered them into glimmering shards upon impact. He immediately darted across the way to close the distance, spinning in mid-travel for a brutal kick. Kitana used her fans to fly back and avoid the kick, laughing all the while. Rain's futility against her was becoming painfully clear.

       Every attempt from the prince to bring down Kitana only served to continue the impromptu choreography between the two, only frustrating Rain and boosting the princess’ ego. Eventually, they both took a reprieve and gave one another distance amidst loose wires and warped steel. Kitana's voice was distorted, similar to Sinister's. “Is this the extent of a demigod's power?”

      “Is this what you have turned to? Becoming the slave of some supernatural fiend? Are you the princess of Edenia or whore of the Netherrealm?” There was a change in pressure, a shift in their bodies that illustrated the kind of power only royalty possessed. Between the crackle of electricity, there was a roar of thunder and screams of defiance. Blood and Nether spilled only to be washed away by intermittent splashes of torrential rain.

      Blades of rushing wind split the vessel in two, letting the desert sun spotlight their brutality amongst the otherwise silent plains. This dance was different, less graceful. The tempo was erratic, the melody of breaking bones and verbal agony controlling the rhythm. A hollow pang of steel called an end to the anxious feet and swift hands. A steel fan was eager to open in Rain's chest as it pinned him to the wall. The other was used to chill Kitana's blood-spattered body, the Nether restoring her back to her usual splendor.

     “Face your death with pride, Rain. You will be killed by a chosen of Lord Maharana.” But before Kitana could urge her fan blade to open, a hand came to rest on her shoulder.

     Rain's expression was one of shock and his struggle to unpin himself was equal to the unmitigated terror of a wild animal. Sinister's words filled the air with an uneasy warmth while Kitana cleaved to him. “No, daughter. This one is just a messenger. Through Shinnok, I have come to understand the hierarchy of these realms. Rain will be released.”

     “But, my lord he killed you! He wields the heretical element!” Kitana's blood boiled from Sinister's decision, stomping a heel against the ground in frustration. “He must learn that crossing you has its consequences!”

     “Oh, he will.” After a gentle stroke of Kitana's cheek, Sinister walked past her and approached Rain, pushing the bladed fan deeper into his chest. The groan of agony divided his lips and forced a smile. “You stretched out an arm and proclaimed me dead.”

     “How many will you sacrifice….ngh...just to die all over again?” Aether started to radiate from his body, his eyes fully illuminated with cyan energy. Kitana started clutching at her chest, backing away from Rain and Sinister once sweat started to pour from her face. Rain expelled the fan from his chest and through Sinister's, kicking the dark lord away. “I knew….you would show your face again. You roach!”

     “Lord Maharana!” Kitana readied herself to enter the fray yet again but Sinister kept her at bay with a steady hand.

     “Silence, traitor! Your so-called Lord exists only by my grace. I am the son of Argus, child of Delia and heir to the throne of Edenia!” Aether blazed around his body, his voice adopting an added layer to reflect his ascension. “As I said before, Maharana, I am born into this kind of power. If you can not best me, a half-god, what chance will you ever have against my brother Daegon, let alone the Elder Gods? Your tricks have only gotten you so far.”

     Sinister's eyes flashed, prompting a portal to open behind Kitana. His stare never left Rain. “Daughter, go to the Netherrealm. Your fight is done this day.”

     “Lord Maharana, I must---!” Kitana felt a pressure against her chest, the Mark of Theta flaring with energy.

     “Obey your father's wishes. I will join you shortly.” Sinister's words pressed further against Kitana's will, encouraging her to eventually enter the swirling black portal before it dissipated.

     “That won't stop me from getting the Kamidogu, Sinister. I'll crush this body and any others you may have hidden around.” The sky turned black with clouds of roaring thunder, giving way to a sudden and torrential downpour. Aether glimmered amongst the raindrops, soaking the desert in godly energy. “It'll be my pleasure to drown you again.”

      Every attempt from Sinister to encroach upon Rain's personal space was halted with bolts of Aetheric lightning, turning each stricken area to purified glass. With each passing second, the rainfall increased, creating a blinding shower that made Sinister's skin burn with the might of the gods. The dark lord was enveloped in seconds and a heavenly conflagration spanned for as far as the eye could see. The air became thick with the sound of water slapping earth, the illusion of sizzling made real through Sinister's charring avatar. Rain laughed once Sinister took a knee, supposedly in submission.

     “Ha! So much for your primordial power. That is the difference between you and I, Sinister. You are a rat, a thief that forces others to follow you. Brainwashing, corruption, rape --- a common criminal with tools they can not even properly wield against a true warrior! A real god!” Rain opened the skies to beam sunlight on Sinister, gathering energy for one final attack. “I will wash away the filth that has dared to touch my kingdom and reclaim my place. I shall be a bastard son no longer! On this day, I become the rain that ushers the sun!”

     The ground beneath Sinister started to rot away during Rain's speech, necrosis eating away the mass of the desert around him as his body started to shrink. Nether began to ooze profusely from his form, constantly dripping while crimson veins forced their way to the surface. A shout of defiance chilled Rain's spine, his voice inducing quakes. The Aetheric water that poured began a process of evaporation in a matter of seconds from the extreme heat roiling from him. Sinister's anger had emerged and so had one of his most dangerous personalities.

      A bone-shattering scream of pure rage sounded for miles. The storm clouds scattered from Sinister's wrath pouring from his now childish body. The rain stopped and a great silence followed. Hovering in the air before Rain was Sinister's child schema, the representation of his hatred and his purest form. Androgynous, dripping with excess Nether and wielding eyes of purple flame, his limbs hung limp as he stared down the demigod. 

     “A powerful being, nothing but a petulant child. How fitting.” Rain summoned a massive bolt of lightning to strike Sinister down. The shockwave blew away miles of sand and ruptured the ground. But among the smoky aftermath, Sinister remained unmoved. Rain's heart skipped a beat, rushing to summon more Aetheric storms. Unfortunately, the water, once again, evaporated before it could reach Sinister. “Impossible!”

      “Edu….edu….” Gibberish slipped between Sinister's lips as he lumbered through the sky toward Rain, eventually bolting off to sink his hands into his chest. In moments, Rain's body was torn in half, the sudden release of Aether battering the thick layers of Sinister's oozing Nether, acting as protective layers. With the Aether gone from Rain's ripped body, necrosis enveloped him, turning what remained into black dust. Although the rain had ceased to fall, the storm was not yet over. Even in this powerful state, his mind was eager to abandon him completely.

       Sinister landed in the glassed sand, struggling with himself and the other Schema that wanted to take control. His rage was palpable, the personalities of a fractured psyche taking advantage of his vulnerable state. Hands came up to grip his head as his screams resumed, purple lightning ripping through the earth and quakes shattering glassed earth. Veins thrombosed along every inch of his body while the spectrum of pain that overwhelmed his body paralyzed him. 

       The Aether that remained in soaked sand, pools and vapor were enough to weaken the Child Schema's mental grip enough to bring the original Sinister back to the surface. Limbs lengthened, the rage subsided and his mind was eventually returned to him. Exhausted and battered from the struggle, he turned to see the Tekunin ship utterly destroyed and a single human body among the wreckage, clinging to life. With ragged breath and pained grunts, the fiend shuffled across the glowing wasteland to “save” her, as only he could.

  
  


\---------------------------------------

 

   Kai entered the Jinsei and stood before Fujin with folded arms. “The time has come, Lord Fujin.”

   “Kai, are you certain?” Fujin continued to hover within the Jinsei Stream, radiating with Aether and soaking in it's purity with an untainted mind.

   Kai's mouth curled into a sickening smile as he rushed Fujin, leaping up to knock him out of the Jinsei Stream. As they both hit the floor, Kai reached back to the stream as he started to choke Fujin. As the infamous green energy flowed through his arms, the god of wind struggle to call out his true accoster. “S..Shang….Tsung!”

   Shang Tsung's illusion ceased, revealing the restored sorcerer and the growing muscle that he was siphoning from Earthrealm's energy. Before Fujin could resist the absorption, the sorcerer shouted an incantation to draw energy from the wind god faster than he could use it. “Channae tuga! Wan see! Hae won da caeyyy!” 

   Fujin's muscles started to waste and he was tossed aside, leaving Shang Tsung to greedily draw directly from the Jinsei Stream. In seconds, his youth was fully restored and his body entered a prime state, the usually blue energy shifting to a sickly green. His malevolent laughter filled the chamber while a fireball formed in his hand. “It took quite a bit to rid myself of the blood magik but it seems I freed myself just in time. Just like Raiden, you are but a relic that has outlived its usefulness.”

    Shang Tsung hurled the flaming sphere at Fujin only to have it intercepted by a purple orb of plasma. The gleaming metal and heavy breathing that triggered his senses instantly enraged him. “How are you not dead?!”

    Kabal sharpened his hookswords with a few clashes and aimed one at Shang Tsung. “I could ask you the same thing. But we don't want that tongue wagging more than it needs to.”

    Sneering, the sorcerer's gaze darted between Kabal and Fujin before darting off with a frustrated grunt. “I have no time for either of you! I got what I came for. I’ll let my servant clean up”

    “Get back here you rat-tailed bitch!” Kabal chased after him, hurling one of his hookswords like a boomerang. In a flash of green energy, Shang Tsung vanished through a smokescreen. The hooksword had just missed his head, spiraling back around to Kabal's grip. “Ugh! Gettin’ real tired of this smoke and mirrors shit. The hell did he mean by servant?”

    In the passage connecting the Jinsei and Raiden's temple, Kabal noticed pieces of Kai strewn about. His scattered organs had tooth marks and blood was smeared across sacred stone. The only recognizable piece that remained was the lower part of his face, his mouth still dripping with bile. The upper half looked like it had been torn off with one's bare hands, the finger marks visible like the kneading of foul clay. That's when he heard the chains rattling.

    If it weren't for Kabal's inhuman speed, his head would have been taken off by the mystic steel orb swung at him. Ducking under the blow, he stepped back to see the beast that was now towering over him. Blue skin, muscles thick as iron and a third eye that stared into the speedster's soul ---- there was no doubt this creature was from the Netherrealm. The mystic orb wrapped around one of his arms through a chain and led eyes to the intimidating wall of strength barely covered by scattered instances of brown leather armor. Thick strings of drool hung from rows of dense, sharpened teeth and the overwhelming musk was enough to suffocate an ordinary man. The oni took a deep inhale before speaking his name. “Mo….loch!”

    “Who?!” Kabal dodged another swing from the monster's orb, trying to gain some distance by dashing back to the chamber. Moloch sucked in the air around Kabal to form a vacuum, pulling him back toward him and smashing his spine against the orb. Kabal recovered quickly, desperately rolling from side to side to avoid being stomped to death. He hooked the edges of his blades into the back of Moloch's knees, yanking himself between his legs and escaping the mystic orb smashing against the ground. Kabal came to his feet quickly through a kip up and found his path blocked by the blue beast. “Well fuck. Okay. Moloch. Got it. Why do I always get the big, ugly motherfuckers?”

    Kabal's hookswords collided against Moloch's metal orb and his thick hide, unable to make much of a dent in either of them. The beast's raw power pushed the speedster off him with every attempt, eventually grabbing him and crushing part of his mask with a headbutt. The next swing of his hookswords met the oni's grip and were yanked out of his hands, slamming Kabal into the cavern wall. Those thick fingers slapped against Kabal's face again and again, tearing off most of his mask and wrapping around his skull. Moloch's orb wound back for a swing but was interrupted by a kick to the side of the head that sent him skidding down the cavern hallway.

     Kabal felt himself being tossed into the Jinsei Chamber while a rejuvenated Fujin stood between him and Moloch. “Heal, Kabal, and witness the gratitude of a god.”

     Even through his blurred eyesight and the pain that throbbed along his cracked skull, Kabal was in awe of how the winds bent to Fujin's will. Gale-force currents whipped through the cavern outside with the glimmer of Aether speckled through the air. Moloch tried to hold onto the jagged rocks, even slamming his orb into the ground to gain traction. But Fujin didn't relent, instead increasing the wind speeds that eventually started to slice into the oni's muscles. It was only after most of its surface flesh was peeled away by the storm that Moloch gave up and was launched out of the temple. 

    “Begone with you!” Fujin walked to the roof and spotted Moloch roaring in the distance, soon flung beyond his vision. He felt a small pain in his chest, stumbling back down to the Jinsei Chamber. There was a pause when he stepped in a puddle of Kai's blood, the loud squish of a hidden eyeball making him grit his teeth. He continued on into the chamber to see Kabal propped up against the side, his injuries slowly healing. “We must end this travesty.”

    “Okay, I know my face ain't pretty but don't blowdry me to death like you did the big Smurf. I was just---” Kabal held the lower part of his mask together to talk.

    “I have watched you, Kabal. In the time I've spent meditating in the Jinsei Stream, I have witnessed the obstacles you have had to overcome to get here and, I must say, it is surprisingly admirable for a former criminal.” Fujin sat in front of him, crossing his legs.

    “I'm just doing what I can to survive. Besides, I can't really be the leader of a dead crew.” Blood from Kabal's face started seeping back into his wounds, the skin reforming to a smoother texture. “Hey, this Jinsei shit feels pretty nice.”

    “You have a good heart. I don't believe you stumbled upon this place by accident” Fujin moved Kabal's hand away from his mask, letting some of the pieces fall to the floor. His usually slack tongue was being raised by a reforming jaw and plush lips. “I believe that the Armageddon will soon be upon us. It was prophesied that the children of a god would slay a great evil and save the realms. However, with the intrusion of this Sinister being, the prophecy may no longer be so straightforward.”

    “Well, I mean Kenshi told me about this place. Said his ancestors used to have tea with Raiden at his temple and rejuvenate at this ---- what the fuck is happening with my...face?” Kenshi let the rest of his mask slide off, hanging off the straps clasped around his head. 

    Fujin held up one of Kabal's hookswords, reflecting the warrior's fully restored face in the polished steel. “You have been chosen, Kabal. Many have tried to stop or take advantage of this senseless destruction and both sides have failed thus far. But you, you have survived this virus that seeks to merge the realms and the darkness that wants to swallow all in it's path. It is time to put away your mask and let the light within you reveal your true path.”

    Kabal was shaking, taking his hookswords to get a better look at his clean face. “I don't….man, this is some heavy shit. I've dealt with monsters and murder but….hero? I'm not made for that. I got my ass handed to me by that blue gorilla. I'd be dead if it weren't for you.”

    “I fear I may have been as well. If the sorcerer finished what he started, the Jinsei would have fallen into the wrong hands.” A gentle yet powerful swirl of wind formed beneath Fujin to levitate his seated body. “But together, we can face this evil. We can restore the realms and persevere. Will you accept this fate, Kabal?”

    Kabal stood to his feet. “Not like I got anything else to do. Let's tear a new hole in that purple bastard.”

 

\------------------------------------------

 

    In the haze of an imprisoning yellow light, Raiden meditates above the ground with red lightning coursing along his body. His white hair has an upward flow and his muscles have become frighteningly defined, relieved of his usual garb for a simple pair of black cotton pants. The stone walls that surround him echo the sound of an opening door, the metal hinges alerting the thunder god. His eyes flashed open when he heard a female's voice. “Are you ready to redeem yourself?”

    Raiden's voice was chilled and low, thick with power. “Let Armageddon begin.”

  
  


**TO BE KONTINUED**


End file.
